Giovanni's Tale
by Counternet
Summary: What if Giovanni had foreseen and escaped the Templar noose. How would Ezio's life have been different if his brother's and father had been there to help bring about the fall of the Templars? This story explores Giovanni's life assuming he survived Uberto's betrayal. Please Please Please Read and Review.
1. Chapter 1

Giovanni's Tale

Summary: What if Giovanni had foreseen the coming events and managed to escape the noose the Templar's put around his neck? How would Ezio's life have changed? Would the Templar's have fallen more quickly if three Auditore's were hunting them down instead of just one? The story starts in 1473 with Giovanni helping Uberto Alberti hunt down criminals for trial, goes through Assassins Creed II, Brotherhood, and Revalations.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

On January 15th, the appointed day of the meeting Giovanni returned to the poor district of Florence. Uberto had moved on Giovanni's suggestion to arrest Stefano, but evidence had been lacking and the man was out on bail. The trial was set for March 20th, which had both perks and pitfalls. Giovanni had two months to find evidence for the man's trial, but on the other hand, how many lives could Stefano ruin in 2 months?

He expected a crowd, but not the hundreds of people that were there. The old man he had talked to a week before stood at the front. Now hope was the only emotion that showed in the man's eyes. If Giovanni couldn't pull through with his promise and hang Stefano then this man and likely every other person here would be massacred by Stefano's followers. It was a great responsibility, but Giovanni was used to pressure. He nodded to the old man and said "Have everyone line up. I wish to know names, ages, the story of what Stefano did to them, and if they know somewhere where I could find material evidence." The old man repeated his instructions and the crowd began to form a line. They walked up to Giovanni and told him there stories. Stories of loved one murdered, livelihoods ruined, and homes destroyed. Hours passed. One hundred and ninety-five names on the list. One hundred and ninety-five stories about the monster Stefano.

There were two that touched Giovanni more than any other. The first was a man named Luigi who had fallen out with his brother. His brother came to try and make amends Luigi wouldn't hear it. Luigi's brother had owed Stefano money and begged for Luigi to pay his loan. Luigi refused. His brother had been murdered the next day by Stefano. The other was the story of a Jew named Levi. He had lost everything to a Muslim mob in Jerusalem and had fled penniless to Florence. There he had needed money to take up his old trade of pottery making but unfortunately took a loan from Stefano. The man had nothing to lose or so he thought. But every month he failed to pay Stefano had one of the seven items that connected him to his homeland destroyed. He only had three left. Giovanni figured that these stories touched him because they reminded them of himself. He too had fallen out with his brother and his kids knew nothing more than that there Uncle Mario existed. And he had lost everything he owned when he moved to Florence. If he hadn't pulled the drowning Lorenzo di Medici out of the water he very well could have been in the same situation as Levi.

The next morning, Giovanni rose and walked to the fireplace in his home. He pushed one of the tiles on the mantel and the wall lowered into the floor. He followed the hidden passage till he came to his sanctuary, donned the robes of the Assassin Order, and buckled on his sword. He had 4 places to look for evidence and he expected that Stefano's followers wouldn't be best pleased if they found him. Last but not least he slid on his bracer that contained the hidden blade. The weapon of the Assassin.

Giovanni arrived at a tower under construction. One of the men the day before had told him that Stefano smuggled goods into Florence and that they were stored here. Four guards stood at the door and there wasn't any other way in. Unless you were an Assassin. Giovanni walked around the back of the tower, climbed up the scaffolding and proceeded to climb up the building until he made it to a window. He climbed into the tower and examined what was there he decided that when he was done with his investigation he would send Uberto here with Florentine guards. He climbed back out of the tower and went to the second location, a blacksmith who was one of Stefano's enforcers. While the man was busy running his shop, Giovanni climbed up and jumped through a second story window because the man lived above the shop. Quickly rooting through the man's home he found a knife that had been clearly described by multiple men who had seen their families murdered. If that came out, the blacksmith would surely turn on Stefano in a heartbeat so he wouldn't hang. Giovanni found nothing at a third location, a home on the Arno that belonged to one of Stefano's must trusted associates. The final place Giovanni looked was the office of Stefano that evening. He rooted through drawers and found Stefano's files labeled with the names of different people on Giovanni's list, as well as some that weren't. The sheets showed how much they owed and the steps taken to intimidate them. This evidence could get a conviction without the nearly two hundred witnesses or the enforcers testimony. But as Giovanni rose to leave a man burst through the door. It was Stefano's head of security. The man drew his sword and shouted "Die Thief" before attacking Giovanni. Giovanni barely got his sword out in time to counter the first blow.

The two danced, blades always turned away. With every stroke the man brought his blade closer to Giovanni and Giovanni's sword was stopped further from the man. Giovanni attempted to slice the man's leg, but the attempt cost him a deep gash on the ribs. Two strokes later a long slash down his thigh was added to his list of injuries. The man was a trained swordsman and Giovanni was being cut to ribbons. But unless he missed his guess this man was a trained where there were rules and honor in a fight. Giovanni had one rule survive. Two more deep cuts became part of Giovanni's collection. Suddenly Giovanni threw his sword and ran behind Stefano's desk. The man was stunned by the thrown but he managed to deflect it so he received no more than a gash on the ribs. But then Giovanni threw Stefano's heavy wooden chair at the man. The chair knocked the man flat on his back and before he could rise Giovanni jumped on him and shoved his hidden blade in the man's throat. Rest in Peace Giovanni thought before leaving to inform Uberto of the evidence he had gathered.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Giovanni was exhausted. The jury was out and the trial that had lasted for three weeks was almost over. It was the 28th of March 1475, and Stefano was finally to be sentenced for his crimes. The man would hang. Stefano knew it as much as everyone else that was at the trial. 195 witnesses in addition to the evidence Giovanni gathered was enough for that, even if the witnesses the defense had gathered had been able to agree on anything more than their names. But still the jury deliberated. Giovanni guessed that Stefano had bribed some of the jurors to try and sway the others but if the man was found not guilty then there would likely be a mob. Those Stefano had wronged, even the ones who had been too terrified to testify were in the crowd eagerly awaiting the verdict.

An hour passed, two. It was almost time for the jury to break for lunch. Giovanni went to confer with Uberto. "What do we do if he successfully bribed the jury" Giovanni asked. "We have more than enough evidence to charge him with other crimes" Uberto responded. "But if we fail here, how many of these witnesses will change their minds" Giovanni replied. " If 195 of them can't get a conviction then I would think that nothing could." But the friends fears where for nothing. The jury returned and the foreman addressed the court. "We the jury find the defendant guilty as charged." Uberto rose smoothly. No one would have guessed by his posture and voice that he had just been worried about not receiving a favorable verdict. "Dominique Stefano, you will hang by the neck until you are dead, and once you are dead, your head will be placed on a pike to remind the citizens of Florence of the punishment for these crimes and also to show them that the streets are safe from the likes of you. The sentence will be carried out on April 9th, in the year of our Lord, 1475. May God have mercy on your soul."

Three days before the execution, Stefano sat in his cell. He figured his masters wouldn't let him hang, but in the nine days since his trial he had seen no signs of a rescue. But late that evening screams broke out down the hall and a massive man in plate armor appeared in front of his door. The man unlocked the cell and said "Our masters have summoned you. Here is a letter of rights for a bank in Baghdad. The travel expenses have been paid and a party of soldiers awaits you outside the walls. Go, and may the Father of Understanding Guide You." With that last remark the man bowed and stepped aside. Hope filled Stefano's step again as he left Florence, one step ahead of the noose.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Lorenzo di Medici was furious. Florence's most wanted criminal had been sentenced to hang in two days and had escaped the night before. Giovanni had never seen him so furious since Francesco di Pazi had publicly denounced him and his wife before the congregation of the Church of Florence. "I can find him" Giovanni announced. "One of the many reasons I have never lost a case is Giovanni's ability to find evidence" Uberto added. "So if Giovanni goes and tracks him down then what" Medici asked. "He already escaped once." "He didn't escape" Giovanni said. "Someone broke him out. But it doesn't matter. With di Medici's consent, I wasn't planning on taking him alive." Uberto turned to Giovanni and asked, "And what of the crowds? They will riot if they don't see a body, and if rumor gets out that di Medici tried to cover-this up, di Pazi may see this as a good opportunity for a power play." "I will take five of the witnesses who testified for us to bring back proof that he really is dead." Giovanni suggested. "In the meantime I will try to figure out who broke him out." "That is a reasonable course of action Giovanni" Lorenzo said, "And if you will excuse us Uberto, I have an errand of my own I would like to ask Giovanni to attend to." Uberto bowed himself out with and "Of course, Your Excellency."

As soon as Uberto had gone, Lorenzo turned to Giovanni and said, "You must be careful my friend, Stefano was accounted more than fairly good with his sword, the few times he didn't have his guards do the dirty work for him." "You too must be careful" Giovanni added. "The only way the men who broke Stefano out could have gotten close enough to the jail without the guards sounding the alarm would have to be someone who was allowed to be in the jail to talk to the prisoners. Someone high-up in the government. I pray my friend, do not turn a blind eye to this, and be suspicious of everyone." "You too, my friend" Lorenzo added, "You too."

On the night of the 22nd April, 1475, Giovanni snuck down to begin his assault on the camp of Stefano. The man had led him on a 12 day goose-chase that had ended at Forli. The only reason that made sense is that he was waiting on a ship. Giovanni snuck closer and scouted out his opposition. One man in heavy plate armor, two in lighter plate armor, and six without, plus Stefano himself were in the camp. There wasn't a way to strike at Stefano without alerting the guards so Giovanni readied himself for prolonged fight. He dropped down the small cliff he was on right onto the outskirts of the camp. In one smooth motion Giovanni unsheathed his sword and beheaded one of the lightly armored ones before running the second through. The other guards reacted and eight swords were bared, almost as one.

The heavy armored guard came first. No sword could pierce the chest plate he wore and Giovanni was forced to sidestep the overhanded swing. The guard had overextended, lost his balance and rolled down the hill. Giovanni knew he had to deal with rest before the man could return. Two unarmored guards attacked while four hung back to defend Stefano. Giovanni countered the first blow and instead of countering the second guard's blow he performed a lightening quick jab to the man's throat, before spinning and hamstringing the first guard.

To Stefano, the blade must have seemed alive in Giovanni's hands as four guards fell in as many moves to Giovanni. Giovanni attacked and Stefano could barely raise his blade in time. 16 times he met Giovanni stroke for stroke, earning his place as a blademaster just by holding on for so long, before he slipped and the assassins blade found his throat. Giovanni pivoted to face the heavily armored guard who had just make it back up the hill.

The man had the advantage with his armor but Giovanni was an experienced fighter, and knew how to deal with the brute armor. He sidestepped the first blow. And hit and stabbed the brute in the armpit, then followed up with and overhead swing to slice under the brute's opposite shoulder plate. He then spun around to deliver a blow to the back of the knee. The brute fell to his knees as Giovanni prepared to strike the only unexploited gap in the brute's armor. He jabbed his sword into the gap between the helmet and chest plate. It was finished.

Giovanni severed Stefano's head, but still murmured "Rest in Peace" while the five witnesses arrived. Among them were Levi, Luigi, and the first old man Giovanni had met, when this had all started. "Your oppressor is dead" Giovanni said. "Yes, but this was not justice" the old man said. "It was necessary and Stefano deserved it, but this is not justice." Giovanni nodded. If the man had been younger he would have made a great assassin. To the assassins, death was a necessary measure to protect peace and free will, and the dead usually deserved what they got, but life was never something for a man to take from another casually. Deserved or necessary it was still a sad thing and never to be taken lightly.

"Take this back to Florence" Giovanni said handing the head to the old man who placed it into a burlap sack. "And tell Maria I'm Ok, though I may not be home for a while." As they left, Giovanni knelt to examine the body of Stefano. When he discovered the bill-of-rights for Baghdad he mounted his horse that the witnesses had brought to him before leaving. He didn't know that this choice put him on a road to a heated revival of the cold war between the Assassins and the Templar's.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Giovanni missed the coolness of spring in Florence. It was only May 19th, but in Baghdad everyday was over 85°F. However the white assassin robes provided a bit of protection. If only they could block the sun altogether he thought to himself.

The bank that the letter-of-rights led him two was called was run by a man named Isam al'Akir. Although no one looking at Giovanni would realize it, he was terrified. He was risking everything on the fact that Isam hadn't been given a description of Stefano. "Sit" Isam said to him. "I am Dominique Stefano" said Giovanni, "and I am here to collect a portion of what is stated on this letter-of-rights." The man could speak Italian but the letter-or-rights was written in Arabic. It was another worrisome point, for all Giovanni knew he could be walking into an execution meant for Stefano. "This letter says that you have the right to withdraw 48 dinar, but it has a place for me to send a letter stating that you are here and another letter will arrive shortly for you. The only thing I need from you is the name of the inn you will be staying at." "The Prophet's Cave" Giovanni replied, thinking of and inn he had seen when first entering Baghdad. "I will await the next letter, then. Until them" Giovanni rose and bowed to Isam before leaving. He had no intention of staying in The Prophet's Cave.

Over a week passed before the people carrying the nest letter-of-rights appeared. The days had grown hotter and Giovanni had been resigned himself to an Arabic summer. Hope now blossomed that he might be able to return to a cool Florence. The man bearing the letter-of-rights had showed up at the bank and then the inn Giovanni had named he hurried out of Baghdad like he had been pursued by an army. After this, Giovanni began observing the banker, Isam, to find a weak point to assault him at. The bank was a fortress. There was only one entrance, which had four guards, in addition to two guards on each end of the street, as well as a patrol every 15 minutes. But after five days of observation Giovanni found the weak point he was looking for. To get to and from his house he went down one back alley in order to bypass the main market. In a narrow alley like that one man could hold off ten, which was exactly what Giovanni planned to do.

Isam's caravan consisted of four men with clubs holding up a sedan chair with Isam on it. Three men with swords walked in front of the chair with two more behind. Only one had any kind of armor, and it was leather, not particularly good at stopping sword thrusts. But to pull off this ambush there was once piece of equipment Giovanni needed; a throwing knife.

The next morning, when the caravan turned into the alley, Giovanni waited on a roof overlooking the alley until he counted to 12 then threw the throwing knife into the back of one of the chair-bearers. The chair lurched to one side, pitching the banker, and knocking one of the three surviving chair-bearers to the ground. Chaos and confusion enveloped the caravan and Giovanni appeared in their midst, slaying both rear guards before they realized he was there, and killing two of the chair bearers before they could lay hands on the clubs hanging from their belts. Only the three guards at the front remained standing and they had to stand shoulder-to-shoulder to come at him at the same time. Giovanni pulled the throwing knife out of the dead chair-bearer and threw it. The knife blossomed in the chest of the guard standing in the middle and the two on the outside stopped to glance at their comrade. That was all the opening Giovanni needed and after three strokes both men were lying in their death throes.

The banker attempted to run but Giovanni quickly caught him. Placing his hidden blade to the man's throat he said "The man who brought the letter-of-rights, who did he work for?" Most men were suddenly quite biddable when a hidden blade was pressed to their throat and the banker was no exception. "He worked for the Naphtali family bank in Jersulaem" the man stammered, "I can give you directions" "That won't be necessary" Giovanni said before throwing the banker halfway down the alley. He saddened him that he wouldn't be able to return to the relative coolness of Florence just yet.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Giovanni was back in Florence. It was cold. Giovanni must have gotten more used to Arabic summer than he thought. It was now September 25th and Giovanni had been in Florence for six days, although no one but his wife knew. The trail of money he had followed had led him all the way back to Florence but it had gone through Jerusalem, Acre, Limassol, Kyrenia, Sicily, Tarentum, Naples, Rome, and San Gimignano. Now he was here to confront a banker in Florence.

It was night and he leaped from rooftop to rooftop to so that he could break in a fourth story window at the bank. But right before he broke the window, four armed men left the bank. One was wearing black robes and was clearly the leader while the others wore gray of brown cloaks. Giovanni knew that they had to have warned the banker so he intended to stop these men instead.

He dropped down and threw a knife that hit one of the gray cloaked men in the arm. Giovanni drew his sword and all four of the others did as well. The black robed man swung at Giovanni and the two exchanged a pair of blows before Giovanni spun away and hamstringed a man in a gray cloak. The sword was just an extension of Giovanni's arm, or so he had been taught, as he dueled the last three. The man in black had run away. The first man swung at him, and Giovanni countered but instead of taking the opening that presented itself, he stabbed a second man to the first's right and then spun to lay open the first man from shoulder to opposite hip. Giovanni turned to the last man and in a fury of blows the man fell to rise no more. He picked up the only survivor and carried him to the home of di Medici.

Lorenzo stood behind his desk and Giovanni faced him and Uberto paced in front of the fireplace. "This man you captured" Lorenzo said, "why did you bring him here?" "He was one of a group of men who warned a banker in Florence of my arrival." Giovanni responded. "I've spent the last four months chasing down those who sprung Stefano free. At first I thought that some foreign power had taken an entrance in him but now I think that he was part of this power the whole time. I think that he had been sending most of the profits from his illegal activities to a group that aims for far more than gold, but at world domination. Believe me; plans have been set in motion for major power shifts all across Italy." Lorenzo turned to look at Uberto. "Has the man Giovanni captured talked yet?" "He will" Uberto said. "Giovanni, who is this foreign power you seem to think so much of?" "When I have proof" Giovanni started, "then I will tell you. But I cannot let Florence go to war on my suspicions."

Just then a man burst in through the door. "I believe the prisoner is ready to talk" Lorenzo swept up his robes, started to the door, and said, "We can continue this later" Giovanni and Uberto hastened to follow.

The man was lashed to the rack; a torture device used to stretch people out, and was babbling anything to make the stretching stop. Giovanni moved up to stand beside the man's head. "What are you and your masters planning?" he asked. "The assassination of the Duke of Milan" the man replied quickly. "When, How?" Lorenzo jumped in eagerly. "Why?" "I don't know how or why," the said desperately, "but I know that it will happen on Christmas Day. Please, that's all I know."

Giovanni turned to Lorenzo and said "I will go the Milan. I may not know for certain who is behind this but I do know for certain that Milan will not be the end of it." "Go my friend," Lorenzo said, "save Milan from this mysterious enemy of yours."

A letter arrived on Rodrigo Borgia's desk six days later. Rodrigo was not there but the letter did not have the seal of confidentiality on it so the man's secretary opened it. The letter read, "The man you have been looking for, the one in the white hood is Giovanni Auditore da Firenze." The letter was signed "Uberto Alberte."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Giovanni was desperate. It was Christmas Day, 1475, the day of the attempt to assassinate the Duke of Milan. Giovanni had had all nine conspirators arrested but the Duke had insisted on due process of law, and admirable virtue in any other situation. Of the nine, seven were involved in the actual assassination and two of the seven were still free and awaiting trial. The conspirators knew quite well that if they were successful then the new ruler of Milan would pardon them. If Giovanni was unsuccessful, Milan would mourn the loss of a great man.

As he leaped from rooftop to rooftop, Giovanni thought about the encounter with the Duke a week before. After Giovanni attempted for at least the seventh time to try and convince the Duke to jail the conspirators, even if they had paid bail, the Duke had turned to him and said, with eyes full of emotion, "If someone is so determined to take my life, then let him do it." "But Sforza" Giovanni had started but had been cut off. "Giovanni, if something happens to me, promise me you will take my family to somewhere safe." "I will do as you ask, but you really must order the" "No" Sforza said as he cut off Giovanni. "If you bring that up again then you will be exiled Milan. It would truly pain me to do that Giovanni." Giovanni had left his company and now followed on rooftops.

But now there was a problem. Giovanni had expected the attack to come during Sforza's trip to the church. When he hadn't Giovanni assumed that the would-be assassins hadn't had the nerve to attempt it with just two assassins. But while walking the streets he had overheard guards saying that all three of the conspirators currently on trial had skipped out and were nowhere to be found.

Giovanni was just four roofs away from the church when the bell began to ring. The man Uberto had in Florence had later confessed that the attack would come when the bell rang for the 12th time, Sforza's last bell he had called it. Frantic energy empowered his limbs and he desperately tried to push for more speed to get of the church. As it rang for the seventh time Giovanni made it into the church. Desperately trying to push through the crowd the bell rang for the eighth time. Almost through and the bell rang for the ninth time. Just four rows from the front when the bell rang for the tenth time. The bell rang for the 11th time as Giovanni came free of the crowd and drew his sword but three men in gray hoods appeared in his path, the three conspirators who should have been on trial.

A savage roar broke from his lips as his friend, Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan, was stabbed to death and he was unable to stop it. Giovanni struck at the man on the far left before spinning to strike at the man on the far right. Then he struck at the middle three blows and the man fell holding his middle. The two others came at Giovanni from either side. Giovanni dropped to one knee and spun cutting one man's legs out from under him and forcing the other to jump back. He knew he was no match for the man in the white hood and he turned and ran. Before he could take four steps a throwing knife took him from behind. Two of the three men in gray hoods were still breathing, but wounded. As Giovanni killed the first man and turned to the second the man lifted a hand and said "Please mercy"

Many emotions ran through Giovanni. Rage, regret, disgust, and a fierce desire for vengeance were at the forefront. Memories flashed through his head. First the savage murder of his friend, Sforza, then the old man who had regretted the death of Stefano, the man who had taken everything from him. He heard his father say "Life is sacred, Giovanni. It should never be taken unless absolutely necessary. Just because you have the ability to take it does not mean you should." Then two thoughts that appeared simultaneously caused him to drop his sword and fall to his knees with tears in his eyes. The first was what he would do if Fredrico or Ezio ever even contemplated this course of action. The other was; if I do this what makes me any different than the men who just murdered Stefano?

After a moment he rose and looked around and saw that only one of the assassins was still in the church and was pinned to the wall by a guard with a catchpole. "Stop" Giovanni yelled but the guard broke the neck of the last assassin. Giovanni walked over to him and examined the body. After a quick search, he found a Venetian coin. He knew his course of action. He walked over to pay his final respects to Sforza, and then left to escort the man's family to safety.

(This story does not reflect the character of the actual historical people it depicts. Galeazzo Sforza was famous for his cruelty and a mob took his body and mutilated it because they hated the man so much.)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It was now January 29th, 1476, and Giovanni had arrived in Venice. The worst part of being an assassin was the long stretches without seeing his family. He had been on the road while Christmas and New Years had passed, in addition to Claudia's birthday, and there was no way he would be back in Florence in two days for his son Fredrico's 21st birthday. But the world was made a better place by his work. At least that was what he told himself.

Giovanni wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for, only that he would know it when he saw it. He spent two days looking before he realized he had found what he was looking for, a white building with the winged sphinx statue that appeared on the back of the coin taken from the Milano conspirator's body. He attributed to the same luck that had given him a healthy baby boy 21 years earlier. He knew it was time to tell Fredrico about his assassin heritage, but how do you tell your son that you had been lying to him for 21 years about your occupation?

But then Giovanni ordered his mind to the matter at hand. The amount of guards at the main gate suggested that the building was open for visitors. A quick walk around the building revealed a door with only one guard. As Giovanni walked passed him, Giovanni dropped the coin. Before he had taken three steps the guard thought that it was his lucky day and bent down to pick up the gold coin when Giovanni's hidden blade took him in the back of the throat. Giovanni dragged the guard's body and dragged him into the building.

Giovanni quickly began heading to the terrain he was must comfortable in, the roof, but as he made it to the top floor he stopped when he heard voices. "These instructions can't fall into the wrong hands" a man's voice said. "If the Assassins get ahold of this a good many of our men will die. Take this to the Pantheon in Rome. A man with a book will be sitting on a bench by the building. Watch him for 15 minutes and if he doesn't turn a page, then put the letter inside his book and walk away." "Yes Maestro" a considerably younger sounding voice said. "One last thing" a third voice added, "Remember the price of failure." Giovanni fled to the roof and barely made it up before a young man walked out the door he had just been eavesdropping at.

The young man was cautious. Giovanni had been following him for over an hour and he had never gone anywhere there wasn't a crowd. Plainly he suspected that one of the Milano conspirators had talked. But as he neared the edge of the city he made a mistake and turned down a deserted roadway. As soon as he saw the lack of a crowd he turned around but Giovanni was already on top of him. The young man tackled Giovanni and managed to draw the Assassin's sword as the rolled. When both men were on their feet again he was holding Giovanni's sword and appeared to have no illusions about the advantage that gave him. Giovanni threw a knife but it was easily avoided, which left one option. As the man performed an overhead attack Giovanni danced back, and while he was off balance, tackled him so that the sword was pinned between them and Giovanni's hidden blade was at the man's throat. "What is in that letter, and who are you carrying it for?" Giovanni demanded.

By looking at the man's face you would never have guessed that there was a blade to his throat. He was the first man that Giovanni had ever met to stay calm in this situation. "Death to all Assassins" the man said before impaling himself on Giovanni's blade. Giovanni just stared stunned. "Well, that wasn't what I was expecting" he thought to himself. It was time to return for him to return to Florence. After all, there was more than one way to decode a letter.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Frustration was evident in the face of Lorenzo as Uberto had not been able to translate the document Giovanni brought back from Venice. The only lead to the power struggle Giovanni hinted at was above the decoding abilities of Uberto and Father Maffei. Giovanni was frustrated too. He had spent two whole months acquiring that letter and now it nearly useless. But he had one last card to play. "I know where do deliver the letter in Rome and the signals to use. I can follow it and see where it leads." "Without knowing the actual contents of the letter" Lorenzo said, "that is the best we can do. Be careful Giovanni, Rome is a dangerous city." "If I may suggest" Giovanni said, "we should make a copy of the letter. If I fail again" the words tasted bitter on his tongue "then maybe we can use the ensuing actions to break the code." "Good idea. You should take the letter, Giovanni, and keep it safe so that we can revisit it at a later date.

That was how Giovanni ended up in Rome on the 14th of March, 1476. As he passed the letter off he walked away and climbed a roof, he pursued the man. But the letter was handed off again and again, and for two days Giovanni followed it through Rome. Either they knew he was coming or the Templars were very meticulous about their secrecy. From prior experience he expected the former.

Finally the letter was handed to a man he would have recognized anywhere. It was the man in the black robes that had escaped him in Florence, six months prior. Giovanni stalked this man with even more caution than he had used in Baghdad, for he was sure that this man would recognize him too.

For three hours he followed the man. He knew that this was the letter's last stop, for none of the other couriers had held onto the letter this long. But when the man entered a building and Giovanni followed he suddenly wasn't there. The person in the building was a janitor sweeping the floor. "Did a man in black robes just come through here?" he asked the janitor. "You are the only person I've seen today" the janitor responded. "He would have just been through here not a minute before me" Giovanni said. "Can't say that I saw him, sir. I' sorry." Giovanni stormed past the man around the corner where his target stood waiting on him.

"Giovanni Auditore da Firenze" he said. "Are you surprised I know your name? I know a lot about you. Are we really so different? We both fight for peace. You would do well as a Templar. With your help we could really achieve it. United Italy. Italian peace. Join me and we could rule a united Italy." "Rodrigo Borgia" Giovanni said. "Are you surprised I know your name as well? That is the difference between you and me. True we both fight for peace. But you mean to rule, and I stay in the shadows, quietly working to bring about Italian peace. We could bring about Italian peace, but I will not bring up my children in an Italy where you rule, and for that reason I will put my blade in your throat." "No" Rodrigo said. "For that reason you will die."

Seven men burst out from behind Giovanni. He spun to engage in the most desperate fight of his life. Three men had swords, as well as one each with an axe, spear, mace, and war hammer. Giovanni danced around an axe blow, dodged a spear stab, and countered a sword thrust before spinning to lay open a second swordsman. He danced back, away from a mace swing, before stabbing the man, but then a war hammer knocked the sword out of his hands. The man swung the war hammer again, but the weight threw him off balance as his follow through missed and Giovanni grabbed him and slew him with his hidden blade. Backpedaling Giovanni hit a swordsman with his throwing knife.

Knowing he should probably run but unwilling to fail again, Giovanni faced his three remaining attackers with nothing but his hidden blade. The man with the spear stabbed at Giovanni but Giovanni grabbed the shaft of the spear, and yanked it. As the spearman stumbled forward Giovanni stabbed him several times with the hidden blade. As the axe men tried to chop him in half, Giovanni spun around and jumped on him from behind, planting a hidden blade in the back of his neck. Rising and spinning, he nearly lost his arm to the last man's sword. As it was, his hidden blade was knocked clean out of his bracer, leaving Giovanni unarmed against the final attacker. When the man attacked, Giovanni grabbed the man's arm, kicked him in the stomach, and flipped him over before impaling the man's stomach with the man's own sword. He spun around to face Rodrigo when a throwing knife hit him in the chest.

He fell to the ground and Rodrigo ran away. Giovanni knew the wound wasn't mortal but he had failed again. It was time to return to Florence.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It was now May 3rd, 1476, and the hunt had started more than a year ago. Giovanni finally had time to relieve the guilt he felt at his friend's death. Three of the four remaining Milano conspirators had fallen to Giovanni's blade. All that remained was the Duke's brother. Thinking back, Giovanni wondered how he had gotten here.

He had returned to Florence on the night of April 1st, and Maria had tended his wounds. "You're lucky to alive," she had scolded him, "that blade barely missed your heart." "Do you want to think about all the times I've cheated death," he had responded, "or rejoice that I did and came home to you?" She had grinned and hugged him, gently because of his wounds, but hard enough that he knew she was thankful he was home.

Then a knock had come at the door, Father Maffei with armed guards, and a grim set to his face that betrayed his intentions. "Fredrico" Giovanni called. "Yes Father" he said as he materialized in the doorway. "Wait for a 20 count and then let them in. Nothing will happen once they realize I'm gone." "Father" Fredrico said, sounding uncertain. "Where are you going?" Sighing Giovanni turned to face his son. "When I return, you and I are going to have a long talk, but until then, you must trust me." Fredrico turned and left the room. Sympathy filled Maria's eyes; she knew how much he had dreaded this day. "Go, My Love," she said. "Fredrico's stalling won't do you any good if you're still here when they come investigate." Regret filled both Giovanni and Maria's eyes as the fireplace closed behind him and he vanished out into the night.

He had seen this flight as an opportune time to take care of some unfinished business in Milan, and the conspirators, Visconti, Olgiati, and Montono all fell to Giovanni's sword.

Francesco Sforza had just finished an audience when the man in the white hood walked in. He recognized Giovanni from when the man ha tried to convince his brother to imprison the conspirators.

"Ah Giovanni" he said, "I know who you are and what you came here to do. I only ask that you give me an opportunity to explain before you give my body to the mob, like you did to the others. Five years ago a man came to me and said that my wife and daughter would die if if I didn't replace my brother on the throne. For four years, I heard nothing else. I thought maybe he had been imprisoned or worse and my family was safe. But on Christmas Day, 1474, he returned and told me the plan, and how I was to be the conspirator's puppet on the throne. I told my brother as soon as possible. He told me of you, Giovanni, and how he was sure you would avenge him. This meant that my family would be free and I would rule Milan. I may not be my brother, but I still will make a much better ruler than that dog, Visconti. That is, if you allow me to live."

It was the man's body language that convinced Giovanni of the truth. The way he held himself, even though he knew that Giovanni could end his life, he was resigned to the fact. Sforza would not run, not fight back, and not call his guards. Giovanni was judge, jury, and executioner. Giovanni sheathed his sword.

"Do you have any idea who organized the assassination?" Giovanni asked. "I know that Francesco di Pazzi financed it" the Duke said "and that they were looking for this." He held out a scroll with d detailed drawing of a hidden blade. What Giovanni guessed were instructions to make one were written in code around the drawing. "I must take this scroll back to Florence with me, and with luck Francesco will meet the same fate as the other conspirators," Giovanni headed for the door but before leaving, turned around and said, "Long Live Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Giovanni arrived home to find that that Francesco had already been arrested and was awaiting trial. The other surprise was that Maria had found the letter he acquired in Venice and giving it to Leonardo Da Vinci. Giovanni trusted her judgment and thought that it might not be a hard code to break; Father Maffei just hadn't reported what was actually in it.

Fredrico was waiting too. As soon as they were alone together, he demanded answers. "As you may have guessed Fredrico, banking is not my only profession. I am an Assassin, as were my father before me, and his father before him. I began training you for this on your 13th birthday, as well as Ezio on his, in the hopes that you would follow in my footsteps. Any questions you wish to ask I will answer truthfully." "Why" was the first question Fredrico asked. . "We have plenty of money and you have plenty of influence with di Medici." "I do not fight for money of power" Giovanni answered. "The men I kill are tyrants, men who wish to control the world, to control men's minds. I fight for freedom, the freedom for men to make their own choices. We work in the dark to serve the light." "That sounds like a speech that has been handed down through the years" Fredrico observed. "Father, why do _**you**_ fight?" Giovanni sat and thought a while before answering. "I fight for my family, for honor, and for Florence." It was Fredrico's turn to sit in silence, mulling things over. Finally he looked up and said "I wish to fight with you, Father."

Four days later, on May 15th, the decrypted letter came from Leonardo Da Vinci. I read, "Francesco is to be arrested so that his trial is set to begin on the 29th of June, ensuring that Giovanni is in Florence on the 28th. Every Auditore male is to be arrested on that night and hanged on the 28th. Any evidence that Giovanni gives to Uberto that proves he was not behind the Milano assassination, Uberto will misplace. On July 12th, Veri will lead an attack on Monteriggoni, destroying the Assassins once and for all.

May the Father of Understanding Guide You,

Rodrigo Borgia

Giovanni was scared, More so than at any time in his life. Not only did the Templar's know his name, they knew his entire family and were going to hang them. Giovanni had one hope, a desperate hope, that he could convince Uberto to betray the Templar. He had a plan. If he could make Uberto see sense, then he could take the Templar's own cleverness and stuff it down their throats.

First he took the scroll he had retrieved from Milan to Leonardo. The painter had the thing decoded in hours, but he said it would take him two weeks to repair the blade. He also told Leonardo to make two, because Fredrico needed one. The delay was fine; he didn't plan on confronting Uberto for three weeks. Uberto wasn't the only Templar in the city, and if Giovanni showed his hand too early, they would have time to adapt their own plans.

Fredrico wanted to move immediately. "If we wait, and they move early we will be sitting ducks." "I know my son, I know", was all Giovanni could say. He had the same fears.

The days passed and the heat was stifling. There was a feel of lethargies in the air. There was also a sense of a turning point, either that the Assassin's would be destroyed, or they would reverse the Templar's momentum once and for all.

June 9th came, the day that Giovanni, had chosen to confront Uberto. Fredrico desperately wanted to help but Giovanni was sure the boy would let emotions take control and he couldn't have that. But to Fredrico he said "Your hidden blade isn't finished yet. You would be defenseless if this goes badly." That was how Giovanni ended up alone in Uberto's office.

Uberto certainly wasn't expecting the blow to the stomach, much less the blow to the face. Giovanni reined four more punches down on Uberto for good measure. "Why Uberto? Why would you betray my family? Betray everything we fought for? You Templar Dog!" Giovanni added another punch to the blows Uberto had already taken. Uberto was in no shape to back but Giovanni watched him warily anyway. "They offered me protection for my family, wealth to bring up my son, and title to guarantee his position in life. As close as you are to me Giovanni, my dear friend, my son comes first. I assume you mean to take my life." "What if I could offer your son, safety and wealth, if not title? Would you still wish to see me hang? Because if so, I can tell you right now, your son would much rather have you alive, than all the gold and titles in the world. I can get you and your family to safety. Just listen to my plan." "I'm listening" Uberto said.

"First, we arrest Veri di Pazzi tomorrow." "What for" Uberto interrupted. "It doesn't matter." Giovanni replied, "The trial will start on August 18th, so Veri can't leave the city until then. That will at least temporally halt the attack on Monterriggoni. The trial itself is of no importance so it doesn't matter whether Veri actually committed the crime in question or not. Secondly, di Medici must be out of the city. It can't look like he organized the escape. Thirdly, my imprisonment will go as the Templar's planned. However, you must bring me a hidden blade. You are allowed into the cells and it will seem to the Templar's that you are trying to gather any remaining evidence that supports my family. I will then take you hostage, to get the guards into the cell, lock you in a different cell, and take your family with me to Monteriggoni and spread rumors that they have died. The Templars will see this as an attempt to wrestle your allegiance away from them. It will keep you in their circle of trust because as far as they are concerned, you hate us for the murder of your family.

This only leaves one thing to chance. Will you help us? I would hate to have to kill you Uberto, but you have already jumped ship once. I need your solemn oath that you will not betray my family to the Templar." Uberto, who had been knocked to the floor for the whole speech, rose to his knees and said, "Giovanni, I swear on the life of my son, that I will not betray you to the Templar."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The next few weeks passed by extremely slowly. Giovanni was anxious, Mario had always been the gambler, and now he had gambled his entire family on the integrity of a triple crosser. Fredrico came to him every day to see if there was any work to be done and to recommend immediate action. He was impatient. Giovanni didn't blame him. When he had been a boy, there had been a mandatory 50 day lull between missions, and it had driven him crazy. Ezio had an eventful few weeks though. He had met a girl, Christina Vespucci, and was spending almost all his free time with her.

He had also gotten in three fights with Veri di Pazzi. Both Veri and Ezio had been bloodied the day before in a fight on the bridge. Their families had started a bitter feud, with all of Florence stepping warily whenever both families were present. Giovanni had no problems with that. If tonight wasn't his last night among the living, then he and Fredreco would be hunting down di Pazzi anyway.

That night armed men came and arrested Giovanni, Fredrico, and Petruchio. Ezio, however, wasn't at the house. As Giovanni was being dragged out of the house he said, "Don't worry, Maria. Everything will be fine." They were stuffed into the prison and left there.

Hours passed. Giovanni wondered what had happened to Ezio. The boy could be rash and headstrong. But then he saw Ezio appear in the cell window. "Father, what's happened" he asked. He sounded close to panicking, but Giovanni said, "Go home Ezio. Press down on the third panel above the fire place. It will open. Take everything you find in there, it will seem strange and you won't understand it but it is all important. Go to Uberto Alberte's house, he will tell you what to do.

Ezio followed his father's instructions. He donned his father's robes, slid on his bracer, and belted on his sword. He also grabbed several scrolls. When he arrived at Uberto's home, the man met him at the door, looking extremely anxious. He took Ezio's documents, and slid Ezio a note. "Everything will be all right" he said before closing the door.

Ezio looked at the note. It read,

"Giovanni,

The Spaniard is here. I cannot bring the bracer tonight as promised. In the morning I will have him wait outside while we resume the plan and you may fight him yourself. I will do what I can Giovanni. I am as scared for my son as I know you are for yours.

May Whatever God there is Help Us,

Uberto.

When Ezio gave this letter to his father, Giovanni looked grim. "Ezio, stay here. Fredrico, Petruchio, start yelling." The shouting brought the guards attention. As soon as they realized that Giovanni was talking to someone they burst into the cell. "Go, Ezio." Giovanni cried.

Then he grabbed the first guard's sword arm, punched the man in the stomach, and finished with a punch to the throat. Using the first guard's sword he cut down the second. His sons followed him as he cut down prison guard after guard. None of them had ever been in combat before and Giovanni was the best.

The three picked up Ezio outside the prison, and joined up with Maria and Claudia, at Paola's brother. He left Paola a letter to be sent to di Medici explaining everything, and another letter for Lorenzo to forward to Uberto, explaining that his son shouldn't be in any danger because Uberto had no part in the escape. It also said that if Uberto felt he was wrong, to send a pigeon to Monteriggoni and Giovanni would come "kidnap" the boy and his mother." It was with a heavy heart that Giovanni fled Florence. But he knew he would return soon. Di Pazzi would fall to his blade and Florence would be free from Templar influence. And after Florence, Venice, and after Venice, then the Templar's would be stopped, once and for all.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It was now August, and the attack against Monteriggoni had never come. Giovanni had expected Francesco to lead it, with his son unable to leave Florence but they must have realized the attack was expected and were smart enough not to go through with it. Which left the question, what did the Templars plan to do with the 500 men they had gathered in Tuscany? Mario, Giovanni, and their three most experienced mercenaries stood in Mario's study to try to answer that question.

"They must mean to try and take San Gimignano." Luigi, the captain of the mercenaries, said. "No" Mario said, "They already hold the city in all but name. I believe that they mean to take Florence." "I agree with you about them wanting to take Florence." Giovanni said, "But there is no way they could do it with just 500 men. They may outnumber di Medici, but not by enough for it to matter in a siege. But if they stage an uprising inside Florence's walls, and then let the army into the city, they could use it as a hammer to crush any who resist." "Is it possible they don't even know what to do with the army?" Anthony, one of Luigi's lieutenants asked. "As far as we know, it may have been raised for the sole purpose of razing Monteriggoni. We could be trying to anticipate a move that they don't even know they are going to make. And if we move, will they move in the opposite direction, or will they strike us like a gong, when we are strung out in front of them."

"He makes sense" Giovanni said. Mario was quiet for a while, thinking. "I think that, for the first time in my lifetime that the Assassins are going to make the Templars react to what we do, instead of reacting to what they do." Mario said finally. "But we should do about it I still don't know." "I will return to Florence" Giovanni said, "No one will know that I am there except for one of my contacts and Lorenzo. In ten days, take 20 men and storm San Gimignano. I know that as soon as the trial is over Veri will go to the city and di Pazzi will formulate a new plan. Kill him, and any others you can, but you must find out what the Templars are planning. Send a letter to Lorenzo when it is done."

"And what of Fredrico" Mario asked. "Is he to take part in the assault? The boy learns fast Giovanni. By this time next year the boy will be better with that sword than either of us. When you were his age you had already led victorious campaigns in the Safavid Empire. You cannot shelter him forever." "I am not our father Mario. I promised myself when I had my first child that I would never become him. Give him 3 more months to learn the sword. And then he can join in the hunt for the Templar." "And Ezio" Mario asked. "He knows, Giovanni, and every day you don't tell him everything is one more day he might decide that we aren't the good guys." "On his next birthday I will explain everything to him. But you are wrong Mario. His head is so full of Christina Vespucci that I doubt he has realized anything that is going on."

The two brothers embraced before going their separate ways. "Be careful, Brother" Mario said. "And the same to you, Brother" Giovanni replied, "In two weeks' time, Veri di Pazzi will trouble us no more!"


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Florence was in a buzz about the trial. Uberto Alberte had never lost a case and now had lost two in a row, both defendants part of the di Pazzi family, and the rumor was that Uberto was on their pay roll. Giovanni stayed hidden, di Pazzi apparently had powerful friends, but today was the day he was supposed to meet his contact, and La Volpe was not a man to wait. The man appeared, with his brown hood, violet eyes, and heavy knife.

"You risk much coming back, Giovanni" Volpe said. "Di Medici is as upset with as di Pazzi, and they want your head on a pike." "It is just a cover, Volpe. Lorenzo has been sheltering me for the last few days. But enough of that, what do you know about di Pazzi's intentions. They have an army at their disposal, enough men to match the might of Florence and Monteriggoni together, and Mario will not risk an open rebellion against Tuscany. I need to know what they intend." "What di Pazzi's want to do with the army, and what the Spaniard wants them do with it are two different things" Volpe replied. "Even di Pazzi family is divided, between Veri who wants to move against you now and Jacopo who wants to take Florence and use the combined might to destroy you and your brother. And what Rodrigo Borgia wants, nobody knows except him." "If Rodrigo decides to take Florence first, then how would he do it?" Giovanni asked. "If Veri has his way, they will lay siege to the city. Rodrigo is too smart for that though. He would probably have di Medici assassinated and replace them with di Pazzi. It would not be the hammer a siege would be but people wouldn't see them as conquerors." "You've been very helpful, Volpe. If you ever need me send a pigeon at Monteriggoni." With that last remark Giovanni left to return to Lorenzo's home.

Mario led his small band of mercenaries around the defenses of San Gimignano. It was night and the moon was hidden by clouds. These were the most experienced mercenaries he had and they would never let any sign of enemy movement pass by without his knowing. The southern gate was less guarded than the other three. Veri had insisted on posting 22 men at each gate, never caring that he didn't have enough men for it. As a result the southern gate had only nine.

Mario knew the only way to get in was to climb over the wall and open the gate from the inside. He knew he could do it but he worried about his men. There were no men he trusted more, nor better fighters, but even the best could be shot down by archers if he kept them unprotected for too long.

As he leapt up the box of crates and on to the wall, he noticed that his mercenaries had attracted all the attention and the guards were all focused at the gate. A throwing knife took the only one that wasn't at the gate. He hoped his mercenaries could keep the attention of the guards while he snuck to the gate control. All it would take is one guard to look back and the entire mission would fail. But none did.

No one even noticed him until the gate started to rise and then it was too late. Mercenaries clashed with guards as Mario snuck past them and into the city proper. He knew that di Pazzi had a home in San Gimignano and that was the first place he went. As he turned up the street, Veri ran past him on. Both parties realized what had just occurred at the same moment.

Veri drew his sword. "So you think that you petty assassins can fight us. You finally come out in the open to fight. Now you will find why your ancestors hid in the shadows." The two blades clashed and both men became focused on the task at hand. Veri was a talented swordsman but Mario had been fighting for 26 years. Every time the blades connected they were closer to Veri. After a minute of swords clashing, Mario's blade found flesh.

The wound was not lethal, but it seemed that Veri finally realized that he was overmatched. His desperate strokes became increasingly erratic and every one of Mario's blows found flesh. After four of five such blows Veri fell to his knees and looked at Mario.

"Kill me Assassin. What are you waiting on? Did you get cold feet." "What are you and your family planning?" Mario said. "Do you think I would betray my family? You are wasting time Assassin. End it!" "You will tell me what you know" Mario said, "and believe me, I will be happy to."

Veri lunged at Mario with a dagger he had pulled out of his boot. Mario caught the man's wrist, twisted it, flipped Veri over his head, and yanked the dagger out of Veri's hand. Mario then planted the dagger into Veri's heart. "Rest In Peace" Mario said.

He searched the body, finding two letters, and then left to lead his men to safety. It would be disadvantageous if all 66 of the other guards in San Gimignano came down on them at once. Once they groups were reunited he would lead his victorious troops home.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

It was November and the agents of Giovanni had finally discovered where Francesco di Pazzi was hiding. The fact that he was hiding indicated that there was no grand plan for Templar retribution; that Giovanni and his kin were on the offensive.

It was almost December, Thanksgiving was four days gone and it was cold. Giovanni was shivering in his cloak. It seemed the kind of day that an attack would take place on. A gloomy sky and the hint of rain was weather for the actual assassination, not the start of the hunt. Fredrico's first hunt would be the father of one of his rivals. Giovanni was not sure that it was a good idea to set him on Fredrico, but he had promised.

In the days since Veri di Pazzi had died, he had acquired three knew assassination techniques; Air, Hidden, and Ledge, as well as acquiring a second blade. Fredrico was not yet ready for the new techniques, but he showed plenty of promise with the old. He was well on his way to becoming a master swordsman, and in nine months he could easily be able to best Mario.

Giovanni turned to walk into the villa. He and Mario spent much of their time in the study, planning the attacks, what to do if they were attacked, and how to respond to the growing evidence that these so named Codex pages were of any use. Giovanni was under the impression that they lead to something extremely important to the Templars, else they wouldn't be hoarding but Mario was more skeptical. Still, he was coming more around to Giovanni's way of thinking every day.

Another place where Giovanni spent a lot of time was the workshop, the place where he dealt with the town's treasury. He had managed to bring in a blacksmith, a doctor, a tailor, an art merchant, and a banker. But he had to promise them one year of subsidies and four years of tax exemptions, in exchange for a 20% discount every year after the first four. By August of 1485, everything his family needed from these merchants would be free. Giovanni had also reopened the Mercenaries Barracks, the Thieves Guild, and the Church. He was trying to negotiate a price with Paola to get her to open a small offshoot of her brothel in Monteriggoni and he was waiting on evaluators from Orleans to tell him if the iron mines were worth reopening.

But now he and Mario were going to discuss something much more important; the assassination of Francesco di Pazzi. "He is hiding in a farmhouse outside San Gimignano and the farmer knows nothing of who he is or what he has done." Laughing abruptly Mario added "However necessary it may be, that sure must rankle Francesco." Giovanni didn't think it was a laughing matter. "Does he ever leave the farmhouse?" "Only when it is he goes into town to attend church." Mario replied. "Then Fredrico and I will strike when he is returning from the service" Giovanni said determinedly. "I will not let him escape again." "And what of me" Mario asked. "Brother, you stand out in a crowd" hoping not to offend Mario. His worry was needless, as Mario just laughed and said, "I guess I do at that."

It was Sunday, December 3rd, the day that Francesco would fall. When he saw Giovanni he sneered and drew his sword. He knew that Giovanni had been a banker and assumed that Mario had been the one to kill the guards and let Giovanni out of jail. Francesco didn't even spare a glance at Fredrico.

Francesco was good with his sword. He was about Fredrico's equal, if not slightly better, but Giovanni was much better than either of them. Between the two Auditore men Francesco was soon reduced to a bloody mess. On his knees, with one arm dangling uselessly at his side, and both legs looking like someone had used them as pincushions, and his coat looked to have been made of red wool, he began to beg.

It disgusted Giovanni that this man was so weak. All Veri had ever wanted to do was to live up to Francesco's expectations. Veri had died screaming defiance with his last breath, while his role model, begged for mercy. But yet he couldn't just kill him. Raising his blade to Francesco's throat he said "What is your master planning?" Eager to please Francesco responded, "On June 28th, 1478 he plans for an assassination of di Medici. He wants my family to rule Florence." That was good news Giovanni thought. He knew what the Templar's were planning and had 19 months to stop it. "Who else is involved?" he asked. "I don't know." Francesco replied. "We never meet anyone else involved until there is less than a year to go."

"Father" Fredrico said, "We should kill him and leave." "No" Giovanni replied. "Francesco will stand trial in San Gimignano." Giovanni mentally added to himself, "And hopefully we can draw out the rest of de Pazzi Conspirators."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Lorenzo won the debate and Francesco was transferred to Florence for trial. It was March 19th, 1477 and the trial was set to begin. No one had understood why Giovanni spared Francesco. He had to explain that Francesco talking would be reason for his fellow conspirators to come out of hiding. Staying out of sight, Giovanni and Fredrico stood guard on Francesco. Down to 15 months left, Giovanni was in a hurry. If it took four months to catch one conspirator, it would take the rest of his time to catch four more. He was hard pressed to believe there would only be four.

The trial lasted for four days and Francesco was found guilty. It was now April 4th, and Francesco was to be hanged for conspiracy. Giovanni knew that the Templar would not let him hang. They were too scared that he would try one last plea, information in exchange for his life. As Francesco was being escorted to the scaffold 13 guards appeared to block the path as well as ten behind. The three men escorting Francesco knew they would be overwhelmed. Suddenly Fredrico appeared in the mix, flowing from sword form to sword form as he slew the men blocking the way. But one man was no match for 13 and slowly he was driven into the circle. He was a mess of cuts and bleeding profusely, yet he stood tall. Six of the men he fought were in worse shape than him, and four had fallen to rise no more.

Giovanni cursed Fredrico. If he would have just waited, the men would have killed Francesco and led Giovanni right to their Templar masters. But he couldn't let his son die. He jumped off the roof he was standing on, landing on one guard and killing him as well as the two next to him with hidden blades. He drew his sword and disemboweled two more in the same smooth motion. Then next guard to come at him found a sword in his ribs, another guard discovered Giovanni's throwing knife in his. The last two presented no great difficulty. He and Fredrico joined the three guards in the center to face the Templars in the rear. They were outnumbered two to one, but they were intimidating because two of them had killed 13 already.

Finally the guards ran. "Stay here" Giovanni shouted as he peeled off after one. Cape flowing in the wind he tackled the first one he found. Hidden blade to the man's throat he demanded "Who ordered this attack?" Antonio Maffei" the man stammered. "Please, I have a wife and children." "Then this is your lucky day" Giovanni said. When the guard rose, the man in the white hood had vanished into the crowd.

On April 11th, the two Auditores broke in to Antonio Maffei's house. The priest only had two guards and Fredrico dispatched them quickly. Before he slew him, Giovanni demanded, "Where is Jacopo?" "I don't know" wailed Antonio. "Who else was in on your plot to try and kill Lorenzo?" "A monk, Stephan da Bagone" Antonio whined. "That is all" Giovanni asked. "No, but I was only given the name on one other, so I couldn't betray them" Antonio said. "Smart" Giovanni said wryly. He then stabbed Antonio in the throat. "Rest in Peace" he said.

April 29th came. Giovanni was in a monastery. Bagone was in the corner having a discussion with another monk. They seemed to be disagreeing. Giovanni was alone. Fredrico was outside, supposedly making sure Bagone didn't slip past him. Giovanni really had him out there because he didn't trust him not to blow their cover. As the man came closer, Giovanni prepared his hidden blade. There would be no chance for an interrogation. Too many guards, though they were discussed as monks. It took roughly seven seconds for a low profile assassination to be noticed by anyone but the man being stabbed. Hopefully enough time to get out of the monastery, without being detected. Bagone walked past. Stab. The clock was ticking. After four seconds, Giovanni was at the door to the room. Five, he was halfway down the corridor to the main hall. Six, he made it to the hall and now was immersed in the crowd. Seven, Giovanni had successfully blended into the crowd and just needed to not blow his cover on the way out. One step closer to stopping the Templar takeover of Florence, but a step further away from finding Jacopo di Pazzi.

It took a full 30 days for Volpe's scouts to find another man they could link to what Fredrico was calling "The Pazzi Conspiracy". Bernardo Bonocelli was a banker, who had been employed by di Pazzi, and coincidentally, also had a deep hatred of Lorenzo di Medici. It did not take long for Giovanni to corner him in a dark ally, the man was unaware that three of his fellow were conspirators were dead and wasn't hiding. After a brief fist fight Bernardo confessed to his scheme and gave the name of another conspirator, Francesco Silviati.

This man was holed up inside his villa in San Gimignano with a force of 45 men. On the night of June 22nd, Giovanni and Fredrico led a force of 25 mercenaries against the villa. The mercenaries weren't for taking the villa by storm. They were there so that Giovanni and Fredrico could sneak in unnoticed. The attempt was successful. The two Assassins stood on a platform beside a tower. Francesco was surprised by the attack, or else he was entirely overconfident in his fighting abilities. There was no other reason to be running around in a battle in sleepwear. He was followed around by to giant men in plate armor. "Drop, Fredrico" Giovanni said when the three got close. Fredrico dropped down in front of them, but slowly began backing away, he knew he was no match for three men with battle axes. But then Giovanni air assassinated the two bodyguards, and a three to one disadvantage turned into a two to one advantage.

"Die Assassins" Silviati declared as he swung the battle ax at Fredrico. Fredrico jumped out of the way and Giovanni took the opportunity to jump on his back, pinning Silviati under him. "Where is Jacopo?" he asked. "I don't know" Silviati said. As Giovanni drew his hidden blade he added, "But in five days he will be in the church of San Gimignano, to plan the assassination of di Medici with the Maestro. This is all I know." "You were the most helpful of all the conspirators" Giovanni said. "Rest in Peace" he added before plunging his blade into the man's throat.

He and Fredrico were to head back to Monteriggoni. Ezio's birthday was the day after tomorrow and Giovanni had promised to tell him everything. When he faced Jacopo, Ezio wouldn't go, but if everything ended badly, he would know everything his father stood for, everything his father had fought and died for. As depressing as this thought was, it lightened Giovanni's mood and brought him comfort.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Ezio was much easier to convince to join the Assassin Order. He looked up to his brother and father so much that anything that both of them were involved in had to be worthwhile. As hard as it was for Giovanni to believe Ezio was even more outspoken when it came to being left behind. He thought that after four days of working on speed and endurance he thought he was ready to take on Jacopo and Rodrigo, and whatever else the Templars could throw at him.

It was tonight, June 28th, and Jacopo di Pazzi was meeting Rodrigo to discuss the assassination of Lorenzo. Giovanni knew one of three things would happen at this meeting. They would abort the attempt, speed it up, or kill Jacopo. They didn't give up easily and Jacopo was the only conspirator who had not actually failed, left the second option as the most likely. However, trying to decipher the Templar plans was about as useful as trying lift a tree with your bare hands.

He and Fredrico arrived two hours before the scheduled meeting. Giovanni left Fredrico outside to make sure that no one left that was critical to the Templar. Giovanni made it to the rafters and waited. As the time passed people arrived to make sure that no one was already in the church. Of course no one checked the rafters. Who would?

Finally Jacopo and Rodrigo arrived. "The attack can still be successfully performed, Lorenzo disposed of. We could…" "After how long" Rodrigo interrupted. "Do you think you have much more than a week, if you're lucky, until the Assassin finds you? This is what we will do. You will rally your men and Carlo and Emilio will bring down troops from Venice so that you can crush Florence in between you." "Maestro" Jacopo protested, "You promised me that I would rule Florence not be some Venetian lap dog." "And you promised that you would have Giovanni Auditore hanged and Lorenzo assassinated. You can't hold up your end of the bargain why should I hold up mine. However I intend to use the forces assembled at Florence as well as Florentine levies to seize Milan. You will rule there Jacopo, and we will add more territory to Milan. You will rule much of Italy but you have lost the right to Florence." "That is a fair trade" Jacopo said finally. "You will go and join your army. Do not leave the camp. In three months your will have Venetian armies to take Florence from behind. May the Father of Understanding Guide You" "May the Father of Understanding Guide You" Jacopo replied.

After Rodrigo left the church it was Giovanni's time to strike. An air assassination took both of Jacopo's guards. Jacopo quickly drew his sword and he and Giovanni began to duel. The old man was good, in his heyday he would have been a much better swordsman than Giovanni, but he was old and Giovanni was youngish. Giovanni slowly managed to drive Jacopo back. At the same time, Fredrico attacked Rodrigo as he tried to leave. Rodrigo dueled Fredrico and neither could gain an advantage, they were as close to evenly matched as made no difference. The two duelists each landed plenty of blows and both were a mass of cuts, both serious and minor. Fredrico was losing blood he had to end the duel quickly. As if Rodrigo read his mind he attempted to fend Fredrico off with one hand on the sword. Fredrico thought the fight was all but win when suddenly a blade appeared in his middle. Rodrigo had used his spare hand to grab and throw a knife.

Rodrigo was standing over him as he fell to the ground. As the Maestro prepared to remove Fredrico's head, a throwing knife took him in the thigh. As he attempted to scurry away, Giovanni, who was also a bloody mess, appeared next to Fredrico. At a quick glance at his son, he knew he could either chase down the Templar headmaster and end the war right now, or let him go to save his son. Feeling like he was giving up part of himself, Giovanni made his choice.

(Sorry for the long wait. I have a vote for anyone who wishes to respond. I want to know how long you think it should take them to search for the codex pages, and if they should do this before going to Venice, before finding the seals for Altair's armor, or after the armor of Altair is acquired, any other idea you might have. However a heads up though. In the story it is currently 1477. If Rodrigo Borgia dies before 1488, then the story goes to Constantople, (My rendition of Revelations) and then the Apple is found, and then ends. If Rodrigo dies between 1488 and 1492 the story ends there. If Rodrigo dies after 1492 then the story will proceed to Brotherhood and then Revelations.)


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

It had been seven years since Giovanni had made the decision to save Fredrico and not chase down Rodrigo. Every day for seven years he had asked himself why. How many lives had been ruined in those seven years that could have been avoided by sacrificing his son? Mario said he had too much pride; that the Templar's would just have elected a new leader. But Giovanni would much rather face a new adversary than Rodrigo Borgia.

He, Fredrico, and Ezio were on their way to Venice. Emilio Barbarigo's life was to end soon. He had ordered a massacre of the Venetian thieves. The leader of the thieves, an Assassin named Antonio, had sent three urgently worded messages. But at the time Giovanni had been working on something much more important. The seals had been found, and Giovanni wore the armor of Altair. More importantly the codex had been found. But that had just made Giovanni feel guiltier. Ezio had used his special ability, Eagle Vision, Giovanni called it, to decipher a codex. A prophecy had been scrawled across its pages. "When the Piece is brought to the floating city, the Prophet will appear." The floating city being Venice, they would have been closer to the ultimate goal than just waiting for the Templar to come to them.

Many other things had happened to the good though to, in the last few years. In March of 1478, Ezio had married Christina Vespucci they had had a son named Manfredo in October of 1479. In September of 1482 Fredrico had taken the Leap of Faith and become a true Assassin. Petruccio was almost old enough to join the guild and then Giovanni would have three sons raised to be assassins, all three will have chosen to be Assassins, unlike him and Mario who had been forced. Giovanni hoped he would live long enough to see his grandson become one of the Assassins.

It was October 4th, 1484, when they arrived in Venice. The three rented rooms in an inn, The Lions Keep. They then quickly went to the new workshop of Leonardo Da Vince. They dropped off the two codex pages that had designs on them. Leonardo was quick to point out that one was a blade designed to deliver poison. The other was a pistol. Giovanni left an order for one hidden blade, two poison blades, and two pistols.

The meeting with Antonio was not so amiable. "You were not there when I needed you most" he raged. "Why do you think that I should help you now?" Giovanni quickly stomped on Fredrico's foot before he could angrily retort. "We were working to stop the Templars from gaining control of a powerful weapon, a weapon that could control means minds. That is my excuse. Although it does not bring back your lost thieves, it was still important work. What is your excuse for not helping us? That we weren't able to come in time to help you? I cannot bring your lost thieves back from the dead, but if you help us you can avenge yourself on everyone who was involved with the massacre. What will it be? You and all the survivors you have left hunted down and systematically slaughtered? Or will you help us?

Antonio sat in silence for a long time finally he said, "I would help you but I can't, not yet. Here is list of objectives that need to be carried out before my thieves can take back our headquarters. If you and your sons complete these, then I can help you destroy the Templar."

The list had 12 tasks on it, ranging in difficulty from tearing down wanted posters to destroying the siege weaponry of the Templar controlled Venetian army. The first round of tasks was easy. Giovanni sent Ezio to tear down posters, while Fredrico delivered a confession for a falsely accused Templar officer, and Giovanni delivered pardons for the thieves captured during the last year's battles. Ezio finished his task and was given the task of silencing heralds, both by bribes, fists, or for the most dedicated his blade. Everyone's next task was much more difficult. Fredrico was targeting a corrupt noble; Ezio was defending a merchant from attacks by the Barbarigo controlled police. This was to be the first time the two of them were on a mission without their father, because Giovanni's task was to safely escort a carriage from Venice to Lombard. It was a waste of time. No Templar ever came anywhere near to the carriage but while Giovanni was out of town, a corrupt noble disappeared and the police couldn't touch merchants in the southernmost districts any longer.

Fredrico assigned Ezio to sabotage the Templar Weaponry while Fredrico prepared to attend a performance where the entire upper balcony would be occupied by Templars. Sneaking inside the theater Fredrico would hopefully be able to figure out what the Templar were planning. When Giovanni returned Fredrico was successful but failed to learn anything useful. Fredrico was working on hunting down a thief who had gone silent.

It was now the 25th of October, and Giovanni met with Antonio. "That was exceptionally fast" Antonio commented. "Ten of the 12 tasks you gave us are complete" Giovanni said. "My sons have the last two in progress. Now you help us kill Emilio." "I will order a feint attack on the Palazzo." Antonio said. "I will try to make it look as real as possible. You need to observe the attack, see how they react, and find a way in to kill Emilio.

On the 27th of October an attack was launched. It was supposed to be a feint but it resulted in a thief being shot through the leg and 12 more captured. Both Antonio and Giovanni knew that they had to recover before they could assault the Palazzo. On the 4th of November, Giovanni dropped down to open the cage that the 12 thieves were being held in. As the sneaked out and around the guards they managed to avoid archers on the roofs to reach the safety of the thieves HQ.

Starting on the 6th of November they began Rosa began to teach Giovanni, Fredrico, and Ezio to do the Jump Climb. After two days of training, Giovanni almost had it down but Fredrico and Ezio needed more time to master the skill. So when Ugo needed a man to steal the new archers' uniforms, Giovanni was the man for the task. The first set of uniforms Giovanni stole the guards he climbed out of Venice's canals and stole the uniforms without the two guards even noticing. For the second set of uniforms he utilized a most fabulous invention of Venetian blacksmith, the smoke bomb. While the guards were standing there coughing and staggering around, Giovanni darted in, grabbed the uniforms and left. For the third set of uniforms Giovanni had to resort to more traditional methods. Courtesans led the guards off promising free wares while the final set of uniforms was stolen and a boat hijacked to return to the thieves guild.

Three weeks later Antonio called the three Assassins together for a meeting. Only one more thing needed to be done before the final assault on Emilio's Palazzo. Three traitorous thieves who reported to Emilio needed to be disposed of. Giovanni's target was a man in Venice's main market. Giovanni threw in a smoke bomb. Panic ensued and by the time the smoke cleared and the people stopped screaming there was a dead man in rags and no sign of who had made him that way.

Three nights later the archers had been disposed of and thieves were on the roofs, keeping them clear for the Auditore family's final assault. Every one of them climb-leaped up the Palazzo, and they removed the guards on the roofs. When they got inside Emilio was pacing the bottom floor. "The Assassins are coming for me" he told to someone unseen in the distance. "You must take this letter to Carlo." The Assassins dropped down a few floors and surrounded the man. Emilio tried to scream when five hidden blades plunged into his body.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

It was now the summer of 1485 and Giovanni was preparing to leave Venice for the city of Salzburg, Austria, where Carlo Grimaldi was staying now that he had poisoned the Doge. Antonio was urging him to stay because new Doge, Marco Barigigo was a cold ruthless man. But Giovanni refused. He needed to prevent the spread of Templar rule to a powerful nation like Austria. It was bad enough that they controlled the city-state of Venice.

Many things had happened in the nine months since Emilio's death. First, in April, Ezio had taken the Leap of Faith and become a true Assassin. Fredrico had added a butcher's knife to his armaments and replaced his sword with a war hammer. Giovanni still couldn't believe he was even more deadly with that than with his sword. Less than a month before Leonardo improved Ezio's hidden blade so now all three Auditore's had poison and pistol attachments. But now the Assassins were to have a meeting to decide the future of the Order.

All 10 Assassins were at this meeting in Venice. They had three orders of business; one, the prophecy scrolled on the codex pages, two, the recruitment of new members. Giovanni had a third proposal to add that only he knew about. When all were assembled they were 10; Giovanni, his two sons, and Mario, the two thieves La Volpe, and Antonio, the two courtesans, Paola and Teodora, the mercenary Bartolommeo and lastly Niccolo Machiavelli.

They arrived and spoke the Creed to formally give an opening to the Council. "Nothing is True; Everything is Permitted." As Eldest Mario spoke first, "The prophecy scrolled out on the Codex Leonardo and later Giovanni so diligently translated reads that "When the Piece is brought to the floating city, the Prophet will appear. This leads me to believe that something will happen here in the near future. The floating city cannot be any other but Venice." "It could be an on an island" Volpe interrupted. "That would be an even more obvious translation." "Yes," Giovanni agreed. "But I also have uncovered this document, not a part of the Codex, but apparently still written by Altair. I believe that he hid this Piece, whatever it is, on the island of Cyprus. If the floating city referred to an island, then I believe that the Piece is already there, hence it cannot appear there, in addition to the fact that Altair wrote this after the Piece was hidden. Assuming that Altair hadn't become old and senile by the time he wrote this, if the floating city was an island, then Altair would have been the Prophet, making this prophecy completely useless to anyone. I don't think that the Templar's would hide something completely useless so well it would take seven years to find."

"Giovanni is right" La Volpe said. "Thank you," Giovanni said. "Unless someone disagrees I believe that whatever Assassins are in Venice should take extra care to investigate any ships arriving from Cyprus. No objections, then on to our next order of business." "Yes," Antonio mused. "Our Order has never taken in members that weren't either born into the creed or came to us of their own free will. But only one recruit is currently in the order, Petruchio, and only one of us had a child. I believe that recruitment is vital to the survival of the Order." "But how?" Volpe demanded. "We can't just walk up to someone and say "Would you like to be an Assassin. If they say no and tell a guard, then we would be run out of town, and be lighting signal fires for the Templars." "We can decide on that at a later date" Giovanni inserted, "but for now I nominate Rosa, Ugo, and Claudia as potential recruits. They would all serve the Order well and faithfully I believe." "Seconded" Fredrico chimed. "Are there any objections?" Mario asked. Antonio looked about to speak up but he didn't and Mario boomed "Motion passed. Council Adjourned."

"Wait" Giovanni said. "These councils are considerably difficult to hold and take considerable time to convene. What if a situation arises that we must act quickly and in coordination with each other? I wish to elect a Mentor. Any who have nominations are asked to present them. Again as oldest Mario spoke first. "By the laws of our Order none of us are old enough to become mentor. However I agree it is necessary but I will refrain from nominating anyone." Volpe spoke next. "I would like to nominate Giovanni. He has done more for the brotherhood than any of us here." Giovanni spoke next. "I would like to nominate Mario. He has been a mentor to both of our two newest Assassins and he alone among us holds a real base of power. Not to mention he is the closest of any of us to being the age the law requires for the position." Antonio spoke next. "I nominate myself" he said. "Who was it that held together the brotherhood in Venice when Emilio and the Doge concentrated solely on eradicating us? Was it Giovanni who we sent countless cries for help to? No. It was I. I deserve to lead and I believe I have proved myself worthy." Teodora and Paola both declined to nominate anyone. Niccolo rose and said "For the last seven years, without any apparent reason, you Assassins have deferred to me and made me your unofficial leader. I nominate myself because I see no reason to change. Bartolommeo, Fredrico, and Ezio all went without nominating anyone.

The voting for Mentor was the only thing that started with the youngest in the Council. Ezio and Fredrico both voted for Giovanni. Bartolommeo voted for Mario. Niccolo voted for himself. Paola and Teodora both voted for Machiavelli. Antonio new he couldn't win but he didn't trust Giovanni and also voted for Niccolo. Giovanni voted for Mario. Volpe, who had nominated Giovanni, understood that Giovanni didn't want the honor, and so voted for Mario. Mario looked at Giovanni. He really didn't want to lead the Assassins, but Giovanni believed in him and he didn't think that Niccolo was the right person for the job. By voting for himself, he would tie with Niccolo and there would be a revote.

Everyone knew the outcome of the second round of voting. The only two people who had to change their vote were Giovanni's sons who voted for their uncle. As his first order of business, Mario made Volpe the Den Leader of Florence, meaning that no one except himself exceeded Volpe's authority inside the city of Florence. He made Giovanni the Den Leader of Venice but he made sure to assure everyone that the post would go to Antonio in four years. Giovanni managed to convince Mario to let him go on one last mission though. Carlo was still waiting in Salzburg.

The cool almost winter air of the city in late September was refreshing. Giovanni scouted out the area he knew Carlo was staying in. It would take longer than planned to erode the Templar influence that had pervaded the city in the last year. It was the November by the time Giovanni was ready for the attempt. Carlo had been greeted with open arms by the Archduke. But with the newfound power came something much more useful to Giovanni. Without a direct line of communication with the Templars, Carlo couldn't know that the Assassins were hunting down him and his coconspirators.

While Carlo was taking a walk around his private gardens, Giovanni struck. Both of the man's guards fell before they knew he was there. While Giovanni dragged the struggling Carlo to a wine cellar he pummeled the man with his fists. "You murdered the Doge of Venice." Giovanni growled. "I did not" Carlo whined. "You have no proof." "I don't need proof. I will just keep hitting you till you confess."

As Giovanni rained blows down on Carlo the man broke down. "I killed the Doge. But I had no choice." "You had plenty of choice" Giovanni growled. "Tell me what the Templars are planning and I won't turn you over to Austrians. I hear their questioners are quite thorough." "An artifact" Carlo whined. "The Maestro is pulling all the stops for some relic from days long past." "For the Doge" Giovanni growled as he shoved his hidden blade into Carlo's stomach. "But…. You said" "I didn't turn you over to the Austrian Questioners. You would not have stopped screaming for days when they were done with you. And then they would have hanged you anyway. You would be just as dead. Go in Peace, Carlo. Rest in Peace. With that final remark, Giovanni left to return to Venice.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

It was just ten days till Christmas when Giovanni arrived at a makeshift camp just a four day ride north of Venice. There were 54 thieves in addition to Antonio, Fredrico, and Ezio. When Giovanni entered the camp, the thieves drew knives. None went so far as to actually attack Giovanni but the slightest hint of aggression might send the powder keg up in smoke. Once he got to the center of the camp he Antonio came out. "So you return, Giovanni." Antonio jeered. "What misfortune do you wish to bring down on us now, Giovanni? What do you and your Templar counterparts want with my humble band of thieves?" "I am no Templar, Antonio!" Giovanni yelled. "Tell me whatever charges you have, Antonio, so I can prove that they aren't worth the time I need to answer them." "When Emilio, threatened my thieves, you refused to come help. When the Doge brought the Venetian military down on our headquarters, you were conveniently far away. Three times you have had a chance to kill Rodrigo Borgia, three times you failed. The only missions you have ever failed." "After hearing your arguments, Antonio, I apologize for my earlier outburst. However I will still answer your charges. For the first, I have already told you, I was busy collecting and deciphering the Codex, and gathering the seals of Altair. For the second charge, our newly elected Mentor sent me to Salzburg. If I am a Templar, and by accusing me of taking this mission to leave Venice, then you accuse Mario of being a Templar as well, and if Mario and I were Templars wouldn't you be charging my sons with treason as well? By the looks of things you trust them alright. Lastly, Rodrigo escaped me once. The second time I faced him I took a throwing knife to the chest. When I faced him for the third time I had to save Fredrico, and he got away." Antonio stood and thought for a while before declaring "I still don't trust you Giovanni, but I don't think that you are a Templar."

"Now that we have that out of the way, Antonio, I have an idea about how to deal with this threat that the Venetian military poses to your little band of thieves here. If you attempt to stand and fight toe to toe with the Venetians, you will be destroyed. But if we were to draw their military out here, ambush their supply lines, sneak up on them, hit-and-run, until Mario brings his army up from Monteriggoni. By then we will have them conditioned to small scale raids and a full out attack will cripple their armed forces." "And I suppose then we just march into Venice" Antonio added sarcastically. "No," Giovanni replied. "Marco Barbarigo will be with the army. When we finally smash into them, and they are overrun, we must kill him. A new Doge will be elected and most likely that Doge will realize the political implications of being seen with an entire army chasing a band of thieves." "What if he continues to attack us because the world saw him routed by a band of thieves? It would be much less embarrassing to destroy the thieves than to retreat after being routed." "But he could play it to the world as the last Doge's mistake, and then maybe he could get out of it with a hide pretty much intact."

The next month was miserable for the Venetians. They lacked almost everything, except swords and armor. Every supply convoy that was sent out was either found destroyed or never found at all. No one ever saw the culprits. They were always one step on ahead of Venice. After a few weeks they even began ambushing armed patrols. About a week after that they began to kill the sentries at night. Not only were they lacking supplies but they were terrified. Then on the night of February 2nd, 1486, no one was expecting 300 armed men to appear in the camp. Giovanni darted between Venetian soldiers and Mario's mercenaries only killing the soldiers who had attempted to stop him. He had to get to Marco before anyone else. He was positive that Antonio would just kill the man without asking about Templar plans or a number of other things that would inevitably be useful to the Brotherhood.

It was really more of a dance than a battle. The first man to attack him found Giovanni's throwing knife in his throat. Dancing into the second soldier he opened the man from crotch to shoulder. Before spinning to find himself back-to-back with Fredrico, wearing the leather armor he had acquired. The two danced to together, partners in a dance of death and blood, creating an opening where both Venetians and mercenaries feared to cross. What seemed like hours and actually was more like five minutes and a gap had opened. Father and son took off to the center of the camp.

The dance continued until they were in the center. A trail of bodies lay strewn across the path where Giovanni and Fredrico had passed by. Marco and his body guards enclosed them but Giovanni and Fredrico, again back to back, moved with the deadly grace of a mountain lion. They were death given form. The bodies piled up, men willing to die for the Doge, until the two were knee deep in corpses. Eventually one blade out of hundreds got through, and Fredrico went down, the leather armor barely managing to keep the blade out of his heart. Giovanni stood over his son, death incarnate but he was soon overwhelmed and someone struck his calf and he fell. As a man stood over him with an ax Giovanni's life flashed before his eyes. He saw Contstanople, Baghdad, Jerusalem, and Venice. But he held on to Maria's face while the ax came down.

Something tripped the axman and the blade bounced off his breastplate, not even denting the armor of Altair. Darting up Giovanni shoved the hidden blade into the axman's belly. Rolling back up to his feet he saw that the fight was over, Mario and Ezio had arrived to the camp and Marco had been forced to his knees.

"What is Rodrigo planning?" Giovanni forced Marco to look up at him. "You think we are beaten" Marco questioned. "You Assassins are further from your goals than ever. My death will mean nothing." "May you find peace in the hereafter" Mario intoned while beheading Marco.

"Giovanni" Mario said, "Silvio Barbarigo escaped and will definitely keep the war going. Now it is known that I am helping you and they know your tactics. They could pin us down and send troops against Monteriggoni." "You return to the South Mario, keep the Templars under control down there. Up here, the war must go on."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The war had been paid for in blood. Every day men fell in battle and every day the armies camped in the same place. Never pushing the other back, never retreating, never ending bloodshed, this small war had been the bloodiest Giovanni had ever fought in. Silvio Barbarigo was a much better general than his cousin Marco, if still not on a level with Giovanni. Casualties in the last week exceeded 450 men for Giovanni and 600 men for Silvio. Giovanni had a remaining force of 300 mercenaries and thieves while Silvio's force had a total force 2100 soldiers.

Giovanni was striding through the camp to his tent to meet with Bartolommeo and Antonio to plan his next course of action. In the tent were Fredrico and Ezio, the two had been invaluable so far and now he had dire need of them. When all were gathered Giovanni divulged his plan.

"We can't beat him the same way we defeated Marco." There was no need to mention Silvio by name. "Silvio is an interrogator, not a politician or statesman" Giovanni continued. "Ezio, I am need you to ride to the Hapsburg Court. We need to see what Carlo was up to, but more importantly you must inform the Austrians that Venice is moving an army against them. Marco screwed relations between the two up enough that they will easily believe it. As for the rest of us, we will retreat into Austria, and once the Austrian army is close enough to us that a battle between the two is assured then we will split up. I'm sure that you thieves can manage to get back undetected. As for the mercenaries, 14 groups of 15 should go relatively unnoticed assuming they are not all traveling together. The Austrians should crush the Venetians quite thoroughly." "What if somehow the Venetians win" Bartolommeo asked. "You will be handing them Vienna in a nice gift wrapped package." Antonio spoke in before Giovanni could answer. "What if Silvio survives? Does it matter if the army is stopped if Silvio survives he will trouble us again." Giovanni took his time answering. "There are doubtless to be experienced soldiers under Silvio. If he dies in battle, Venice will retreat, even should they win the battle they will press their advantage through political means and not on the battlefield. I will stay behind, and if Silvio survives, win or lose, I will deal with him. Ezio however should stay in Vienna until he knows what the Templars are after."

It was early April when the Austrians ambushed the Venetians. The Venetian army suffered a defeat so great that they were ready to take Silvio to trial as soon as he returned. But Giovanni wasn't planning on waiting for Silvio to go to trial. Just like the last time he and Fredrico went into the enemy camp together Giovanni in the armor of Altair while Fredrico wore his new armor, that was not quite plate armor but much stronger than leather. The two moved together dancing wielding deaths at their fingertips. Venetian after Venetian fell to the pair of Auditore assassins.

They carved a path to Silvio through his army. A path paved with blood and corpses. To Giovanni the typical sounds of battle were clear to his hearing. The sound of metal clashing-against-metal, he and Fredrico screaming as the killed, Venetians screamed as they died. It all seemed surreal to Giovanni, so long he had waited, and he was going to remove that last arm in between himself and the head of the Templar, Rodrigo Borgia.

At last Silvio and his bodyguard Dante Moro stood before them. Silvio turned to run while Dante unlimbered his ax. Before he could draw it all the way Giovanni's blade was in his throat and Fredrico's in his stomach. Before the body hit the floor they both took off after Silvio. They caught him with in a hundred strides an planted a hidden blade in his black. Giovanni questioned him but his eyes had already glazed over. Even so, there was only one thing left, the Head of the Templar Order, Rodrigo Borgia.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

It was June 25th, 1488, and Giovanni was just over halfway through his term as Mentor of Venice. Under his rule Venice was experiencing a mini golden age. Templar and other destructive influences were all but destroyed. Giovanni realized this was the kind of work he enjoyed. He was managing the Brotherhood and rarely actually doing fieldwork. When out in the field though he was a decisive hammer blow against any Templar who dared to appear. He was still the most skilled fighter in the city and both factions knew it.

There had been no word from Ezio since the very first letter saying he had arrived in Vienna, which had been over two years ago. Fredrico had been dispatched to Vienna as well and he had not returned. Fredrico though had written many times and had told Giovanni exactly what the Templar were planning. Although he couldn't be back in time to take place in the actual fight, Fredrico had told Giovanni that exactly two years ago to the day Rodrigo had sailed to Cypress from Rome and through various means been able to determine that Rodrigo would be arriving to Venice tonight.

As a carefully selected group of Assassins followed a messenger around Venice, they realized the box he carried was much too big to be a letter and must be the Apple of Eden. Mario and Niccolo were ready to kill the messenger and take the Apple but Giovanni managed to convince them to wait so they could strike down Rodrigo Borgia and decapitate the entire Templar Order.

There was only one problem in the entire operation. For a brief period of time when a messenger went inside a building where they couldn't see him and when he came out, he seemed slightly shorter and broader in the shoulders. His determined stride also made both Mario and Giovanni scratch their heads as it seemed vaguely familiar.

It was late evening when the messenger finally made it to the meeting point and Rodrigo Borgia appeared. The messenger approached and the Assassin's all prepared themselves to strike but to their great surprise, the messenger killed both guards and removed his helmet to reveal Ezio, standing there holding the Apple of Eden. Dropping the box and drawing his sword Ezio stood amazed as 25 guards ran out of alleys behind Rodrigo. But what appeared to stun him even more was when 8 Assassins poured out of the alley behind him. The two sides clashed with a battle cry fit for the battle in a war where both sides know everything hinges on this moment.

Men surrounded Giovanni, and he hacked into them. He was calm, cold, and dispassionate; he was death. He ran the first through, didn't bother to pull the blade back out, spun throwing knives taking two more, before rolling to hidden blade the next in the back.

As quick as he was, others reached Rodrigo first. First was Antonio with his butcher's knife but Rodrigo was an uncoiling viper, lancing in and out with his serpentine blade, and surprise was the last expression Antonio's face ever wore. Bartolommeo was the next, but again Rodrigo was too fast. Bartolommeo couldn't work his great broad sword, Bianca, fast enough. One lancing shot to the thigh, the next to the shoulder, but before he could finish with a shot to the throat, Ezio tackled him. The two rolled off the side onto the dock below, and out of Giovanni's sight. Trying to reach his son, big man got in his way. The great broadsword in his hands was much too long for Giovanni's hidden blades to be of use. He ducked under the first swing, spun out of the way of the second, before rolling around to the side and shooting him in the head with the pistol attachment.

Running to the dock, he saw Ezio backing Rodrigo away, both men wielding stilettos, and Ezio had his hidden blade out as well. Rodrigo was bleeding from several non-lethal wounds Ezio had managed to inflict. But Giovanni noticed something. Rodrigo was moving much slower than his injuries could account for. Giovanni realized he was faking until Ezio made a fatal mistake. Throwing himself at a full run, Giovanni took off towards the pair, and Rodrigo seeing him coming launched into his attack. It was too soon and not the fatal stab he had hoped for, but Ezio still slumped to his knees. Before he even hit the ground Giovanni had leaped over his son. Not knowing whether Ezio was alive tore Giovanni into with fear, but he had resigned himself to the knowledge that there was nothing he could do.

The pair rolled. Giovanni kicked Rodrigo off him and the two began a deadly dance of knives, Giovanni's hidden blades against Rodrigo's stiletto. Metal struck metal, and the two danced. The dance of death enveloped them. They were like the warrior gods of old, more skilled than mere mortals. Death hung like a cloak as they slowly began to slip past the others defenses. Time slowed and seconds were minutes, minutes hours, and neither had any idea how long they had dueled. After just three minutes they were both just solid masses of bleeding cuts and gashes. Giovanni regretted letting Fredrico have the Armor of Altair.

After 24 minutes, what felt like a whole day had passed between the start of the duel. Rodrigo got the upper hand and plunged his blade into Giovanni's chest. As Giovanni fell, the other Assassins came running down the dock. Realizing he didn't have time to kill Giovanni and escape, Rodrigo contented himself with "Until next time, Assassin." He then got in a canoe and rowed away.

Giovanni's last coherent thought was that they had won; the Apple was in the hands of the Assassins. It was a bitter thought.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

When Giovanni had fully recovered he was more determined than ever. Four times Rodrigo had escaped, killing and wounding the people dearest to Giovanni. Now it felt as though his life had boiled down to just one purpose: Killing Rodrigo Borgia.

It was now September, 1491, and the Prophet, Ezio, using the special sight he had, had determined that the vault was in Rome. Giovanni's term is Venice had ended and he was now ready to confront his greatest enemy again. But the others didn't want him in Rome. They thought he was so focused on Rodrigo he couldn't stay focused long enough to help them find the Vault. Their idea was to go to Rome and open the Vault before setting Giovanni loose on Rodrigo.

So he waited. Months past and he saw to the running of Monteriggoni. October passed, November came and went, and December was almost over before the message came. "The Vault is open. Come at once."

Upon arriving in Rome in mid-January, Giovanni noted the pitiful state of the city. It was not the bustling city Giovanni had visited while trying to avenge his friend the Duke of Milan. Clearly Rodrigo had plenty of influence here. Most businesses were closed to the public; towers flew Rodrigo's coat of arms, and the guards wore the colors of House Borgia, not the colors of Rome.

As he stabled his horse, he noticed several guards watching him. Glad that he was not wearing his robes Giovanni closed the door behind him.

Every Assassin in Italy was in the hideout same Bartolommeo, Paola, and Teodora. Volpe was here, as was Niccolo, in addition to Giovanni's family. In the room that appeared to be where the Order was actually run from there was a wall with 10 pictures arranged in a pyramid. At the top was Rodrigo Borgia. The second tier held pictures of his two children; Cesare and Lucrezia. The third tier held three pictures of people Giovanni had never seen before but they were labeled Juan Borgia, Michellito, and the Baron de Valois. The fourth tier held four pictures with no names but the labels, the doctor, the thief, the sniper, and the executioner.

"Admiring our targets, Giovanni?" Mario asked from behind him. "It seems the Templars have decided to focus their attention here" Mario continued, "so this is where we fight. I am going to return to Monteriggoni to prepare to do battle with the Papal armies. Niccolo will lead here. Volpe and Claudia will take to running the Underground. Ezio and Fredrico will begin recruiting and training new assassins. Petruchio is destroying Borgia towers. As soon as Ezio and Fredrico decide they are ready, Rosa and Uggo will begin confronting the Followers of Romulus. Your job is to take out the targets on that wall in the order Niccolo tells you. You should send for Maria. This could be a long assignment." Giovanni turned to argue but Mario had already left.

Niccolo then approached Giovanni. "He wanted me to tell you that as soon as Rodrigo Borgia is dead he will resign and for you to succeed him. I know we have to vote on it but I can't think anyone would vote against you."

"But to the matter at hand. You see the bottom tier, take them out. The order matters little. We know next to nothing about them. I would like to suggest starting with the executioner. He should be relatively easy to find. From there I think the thief would be the next easiest followed by the doctor and then the sniper."

As Giovanni turned to go Niccolo added one last thing "Giovanni, work with the rest of us. I know how much you just want to go after Rodrigo, because if you do, the Templars will lose one man and surely recover. But if you work with us, we can make this spring one the Templars will never forget. It will be the biggest disaster their Order has ever suffered."

Giovanni heeded Niccolo's advice. In January, the executioner and the thief fell. In February, the doctor died when Giovanni forced the poison he had been selling down his own throat. It was mid-March when the final tier four target fell. The sniper's rounds couldn't penetrate the armor of Altair.

When he returned to Tiber Island it seemed a happier place. Niccolo was renovating shops and buildings in areas Petruchio had freed from Borgia influence. Rosa and Uggo had penetrated two of the Followers strongholds and Ezio and Fredrico were entirely caught up in the training of four new recruits.

In the Order Headquarters he met Niccolo. "You have done well, Giovanni" Niccolo said. "Now its time for you to go after the tier three targets. Start with the Banker; Juan Borgia. With him out of the way the Baron de Valois will return with his armies because they will lack the funds needed to continue conquest. With the Baron and Cesere back in Rome, Michelitto will appear to see his friend and inquire after employment. It doesn't matter which of the two fall second and third but the Banker must fall first." As Giovanni left the Tiber Island hideout he realized that Niccolo had not given him any information about how to find this Banker. So he paid a visit to Claudia. Any rich banker had to be a frequent customer at the brothel. This was, after all, Rodrigo Borgia's Rome. As luck would have it the man had reserved a dozen courtesans for a party in nine days' time which was the first day of spring. Giovanni had learned after a few near death experiences that it was best to spend as much time leading up to a mission with Maria as possible.

The next week was paradise. It was a chance to live an ordinary, slow, quiet, life with Maria. They reminisced about times past. About times when they had been together and he hadn't been on the run as much. She made him feel young again. Giovanni thought to himself that Mario had the right idea. After Rodrigo's death to retire, to be free of all the weight and worry this job pressed on him. Giovanni would love to retire to Maysaf. To spend his last days with Maria and Altair's library with an occasional visit from his children and grandchildren was an excellent fantasy.

But those were thoughts for another day. On the March 20th, the day before the party, Giovanni left his wife and found a good, high vantage point to observe the party from. He waited for in that spot for 36 hours until he finally caught a glimpse of Juan Borgia. Giovanni threw his knife which struck in the throat of the Banker. He then disappeared into the night. It wouldn't be long before the Papal armies ran out of funding. When they returned, there would just be four more arms to remove before he could strike off the head of the Templar Order.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Almost two months past. It was mid-May. At this time of the year in Florence it would have been beautiful. In Rome it was stifling. Cesere had just returned to Rome and with him the Baron de Valois. Giovanni had spent the last two months with Maria. He had begun to realize he had lost himself in Venice and even before that. The time he spent with her had not lessened his hatred for Rodrigo but it has lessened his fervor. Giovanni now realized that the work he had been given was more important than a single vengeful vendetta against Rodrigo.

Giovanni spent a few days determining where the Baron de Valois would be camping. He determined it would be best if he went in unarmed and was taken captive. He knew that way he would be taken to the Baron with minimal effort.

When he first went in he was captured by a sergeant who would have killed him on the spot if he hadn't mentioned that he was Giovanni Auditore. Still he was made to wait for an entire day before he was taken to the headquarters of the army. Upon entering the tent Giovanni found himself face to face with not only the Baron but Cesere and Michelitto as well.

"Well well, what do we have here?" Cesere asked. "The mighty Giovanni Auditore. You have caused our Order much grief these last few years. I should just kill you. But yet, I have a proposition for you. If you tell me where the others are hiding then I will let you live." "And if I refuse?" Giovanni asked. "Then I will kill you and your entire family" Cesere responded sinisterly.

"I have a counter offer for you." Giovanni said. "You, your two henchmen, the three guards behind me, and the two guys holding my arms all surrender." "And if we don't?" Cesere sneered. "Then I get my workout for today" Giovanni replied.

Cesere unsheathed his sword but Giovanni jumped with all the force he could muster straight back carrying two guards with him. He hit the ground and rolled backward, coming up to punch the man directly behind him in the stomach. As the guard doubled over Giovanni grabbed the man's sword and plunged it into the throat of the guard to his left. Giovanni spun to catch the blow from the guard to his right on his sword before beheading the guard he had punched. Outnumbered six to one Giovanni was slowly circled by Cesere and his men. Giovanni rolled and plunged his blade into the bowels of one of the three remaining guards. Grabbing the dead man's sword he blocked the thrust of one guard before disemboweling the other. Michelitto was the next to come at him but the man was a tavern brawler, not a swordsman. After a very brief series of exchanges Giovanni removed his arm at the elbow. The remaining guard ran away seeing the futility of the fight. The Baron had never been in a real fight, only fencing matches with rules and that were designed for him to win. He was taken completely by surprise when Giovanni punched him in the face and the hamstrung him.

Cesere was different. He was a swordsman. He led his troops from the front and knew one point of the sword from the other. The two dueled, stroke and counterstroke, always matching the other, never gaining any purchase, never striking anything but the other man's sword. Slowly the area around the two began to fill. Men stood in awe as the two obvious blademasters danced the dance of death. Slowly nicks and cuts began to slow the duel. Sweat coated the two of them as they began to feel the blood loss and exhaustion slowing them. The minor cuts each one had inflicted had been bleeding for so long one of them might well be the fatal wound. Giovanni's arms felt like lead and he was moving sluggishly. Giovanni knew he couldn't win this battle of attrition, Cesere was 30 years younger and still probably had a small amount of energy left. Knowing he couldn't win the way he had been trying too so he launched one last desperate attack. As his sword pierced Cesere's diaphragm Giovanni fell down on top of him. As he rolled over Giovanni looked up at the sky to realize the moon was directly overhead. He closed his eyes and collapsed from exhaustion.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Giovanni was held in captivity for three days before being taken before Rodrigo. He was sure that his time was up. He was still tired, he hadn't eaten in three days, and he was all out of weapon. One thing dominated his thoughts. He couldn't let his children be consumed by revenge as he had been. He had to let them know that he was at peace.

But as the guards threw open the doors, he knew he would have no such chance. Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia stood there with a dozen guards around him and many more were inside the room. The two carrying Giovanni deposited him at the foot of the pedestal that Rodrigo sat upon. "The might Giovanni Auditore," he taunted. "You have fallen far, my old friend. You did me a favor in killing Cesere. He was becoming too ambitious for his own good. However, he still was my son and you will pay the blood price." "A pompous speech, Rodrigo" Giovanni retorted. "Don't you think I would have had some kind of plan? After all, I just strolled into Cesere's camp unarmed and identified myself as the assassin Giovanni Auditore. Do you really think I'm that arrogant." In reality Giovanni just hadn't expected Cesere to be that good with the sword but he wanted Rodrigo to think that he was doing exactly what Giovanni had planned for him to do.

"Ah, Giovanni" Rodrigo said, "I wish this could have turned out differently. I wish you would have taken me up on my offer so many years ago. But seeing as how you murdered my son and I don't have time for a trial, we are going to duel. Leonardo toss him a sword."

As Giovanni caught the sword, he tried to think through what Rodrigo was doing. It made sense. Instead of a trial where Giovanni could publicly denounce Rodrigo, they would duel. Rodrigo could claim it was a trial beneath the light, and knowing the two were almost perfectly matched, a duel where Giovanni was already weak would be a perfect way to get rid of him. The deck was stacked against Giovanni, but he did have two advantages. Rodrigo wanted to live, whereas Giovanni didn't care as long as he took Rodrigo with him. Also, Rodrigo was used to being able to wear an opponent down with henchmen and flee if the fight looked to be turning against him. After declaring a Trial Beneath the Light, an attempt to flee would result in his own men striking him down. This was the fight that Giovanni had long awaited.

Rodrigo unsheathed his blade and attempted to behead Giovanni in one smooth movement intended for one thing, speed. The form worked best when the opponent was caught by surprise but as exhausted as he was Giovanni barely managed to counter it. Rodrigo transitioned into another offensive strike, a forward lunge and thrust which Giovanni barely sidestepped. He realized that Rodrigo was toying with him. Both were forms that easily would have meant Rodrigo's death had he been at full strength.

As Rodrigo spun he launched into another attack, relatively the same form. But where the last one was a moderately offensive form, this one was a balls-to-the-wall, do-or-die-aggressive form. At least against a well-rested opponent . As it was Giovanni again sidestepped but this time Rodrigo landed a deep cut on Giovanni's ribs. Giovanni managed a back-handed strike that inflicted a shallow cut on Rodrigo's forearm but he had definitely taken the worst of the exchange. Rodrigo flowed through two forms, a downward thrust, followed by an uppercut, inflicting another deep cut across Giovanni's chest.

Giovanni began to gamble. He knew he could never win the game he had been playing. He launched a slow strike at Rodrigo's left thigh. Rodrigo knocked the strike away and launched the same attack, his blade biting deep into Giovanni's own left thigh. Giovanni repeated the procedure, and this time Rodrigo's blade sank into the flesh between his bottom two ribs. A third slow lancing blow, resulted in a deep cut in Giovanni's left shoulder, leaving numbness all down that arm. But the gamble had paid off. Rodrigo hadn't killed Giovanni and more importantly he hadn't recognized the same tactics he had used against Ezio in Venice four years prior to this fight.

Giovanni moved into the same form he had started the last four times and Rodrigo already moved to counter like he had the last four times, assuming Giovanni was desperate enough to try one last time. But Giovanni switched into a sword form he and his sons knew as Duelist's Last Strike, an all-out stab to the throat designed for one thing; speed. It was given its name because if the form failed you usually died. But Giovanni's blade struck true. The look of surprise was the last face Rodrigo ever adopted.

As the guards drew their swords, the captain, Leonardo, yelled "Stay your weapons. Through the grace of God Giovanni Auditore was victorious. It would appear that his cause is just. Let whoever raises a hand against him over the issue of Cesere's or Rodrigo's death suffer eternal punishment in the depths of Hell."

As Giovanni limped out of the room, he realized the guards didn't need to stop him. He fell to the ground and the world faded to black as he lost consciousness, pumping his lifeblood onto the floor of Rodrigo's palace.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

_Mario's point of view. 75 days prior to the events of chapters 24 and 25. _

A cold wind blew across the field that Mario surveyed. A battlefield could tell a story. You could see where brave men had attempted to stem the tide turning against them, where men had fought fiercely, by where the largest piles of bodies were. You could tell where men's hearts had given out because the bodies were scattered and lying face down in the dirt that had been turned red by the blood in the soil.

Mario and Cesere Borgia had left the largest and bloodiest battlefield on Italian soil since Hannibal and Cannae. Mario had actually used the strategy that Hannibal had first revealed to the world that day. But Cesere was no Roman commander who only knew one way to fight and committed to it no matter what the situation on the battlefield. Mario had to admit that Cesere was a brilliant battlefield commander. The last time this strategy had been used, a force of 100 thousand strong had been slain to the last man by a force half their size.

As it was Mario was pulling back to the Mountains north of Forli. Caterina had already stored enough supplies there to last his army for four months. It was also a mountain pass where Mario's pikemen could hold back Cesere's cavalry almost indefinitely. The narrow pass would be perfect to funnel Ceserae's men into so that he couldn't bring his superior numbers to play.

On the days went as Mario's army, 25,000 strong was pursued by Ceserae's 54,000 strong. A week passed, ten days, 20, before Mario reached his goal. Both sides were just a fraction of what they had once been. Mario had lost two men out of three, and Ceserae had lost three men out of four. This battle was all about baiting. Ceserae fashioned himself a great Captain, worthy of Alexander the Great, Hannibal, or Julius Caesar. He was furious that he was being shown up by an old man who had spent most of his days on the front lines himself.

In the morning Mario formed up his 14,000 pikeman, into ranks that ran the entire width of the battlefield. Ceserae formed his army into attack formation but never committed. The same thing happened the next day and the day afterward. Mario had placed Ceserae into a bind. Taking the valley would be costly. He couldn't know that Mario had supplies stashed here. But he couldn't take the chance that Mario had prepared to fall back here the entire campaign and did have a supply stash. This was too defensible a position for Mario to just have come across it by happenstance. Therefore, he must assume this was a planned battle and that Mario did in fact have supplies. Ceserae didn't have the rations to wait Mario out, nor could he afford to leave this large of a force in his rear. He did have one advantage. The other side of the valley was a dead end. If he managed to break Mario's lines there would be no escape for the Assassin.

The next morning both sides lined up into their battle formations as they had each of the last three mornings, But this time Ceserae ordered half of his infantry to charge. As Mario watched from a rise 12,000 Papal infantry charged into his pikes. The first rank of the attackers went down almost as one, as did the second, and the third. The rest of the army soon slammed into the pikes and the sounds of battle rose from the din. The clanging of steel on steel, the screaming as steel struck flesh, men grunting, moaning, yelling, as they killed or were killed permeated the air. Every time Mario heard these sounds he wondered why he chose to be a general. The answer always came quickly. Men like Ceserae had to be stopped.

Hours passed as Mario's lines of pikemen held. The line bulged inward in some places, outward in others but it held. Ceserae had committed the rest of the infantry to the fight and they were slowly thinning out the ranks of Mario's pikes. Mario turned to the messenger boy who held had stood beside him the whole battle just waiting for orders. "Go tell Luigi to ready a battalion of cavalry to shatter any attack that looks like it's about to break through. Tell him if our pike lines break the Borgia cavalry will finish us off once and for all." "Yes sir" the boy shouted before running off.

When the boy returned, Mario immediately sent him to find the other of his seconds, Anthony. When Anthony arrived, Mario asked him "What do you think are chances are of winning this battle?" "Very slim, sir. Our pike lines are breaking; the cavalry is stuck behind the pikes and we are getting smashed against the back of the valley. Pretty soon our forces are going to end up in a mixed up melee with Cesere's cavalry slaughtering us." "Um-hmm" Mario said. "And what if we change the rules?" he asked. "How, sir" "Send 2500 horseman forward and pull the pikes back to reform. Make sure to leave room for the horse to retreat behind the pikelines. Ceserae will charge in seeing that the lines have broken. Meanwhile the rest of the horse and I will get behind him using the narrow mountain passes we found a few days back. We'll trap him between the horse and the reformed pikes and not one man in his whole army will leave today without being killed or captured. What do you think are chances of winning are then?" Anthony was silent in thought for a while before answering, "We are desperate enough, and they're over-confident enough that we have a pretty decent chance of pulling it off." "Give me an hour before you sound the retreat" Mario replied, before turning and mounting his horse.

Ceserae watched the battle from the top of the rise when a force of horseman broke out to hit his infantry while the pikes retreated. It made sense. They were going to reform the pike lines to keep his cavalry at bay. It was an obvious stalling technique, but it was extremely hard to pull off effectively. Two ideas were being batted around in his mind. Mario was a brilliant general, one easily capable of pulling off this complex technique. Mario had also taken every opportunity to flaunt his military genius. But he had also never done the obvious the thing. Every time Ceserae had thought he knew exactly what Mario was doing he had lost thousands of men with little cost to Mario. Even as the battle dragged on and he was more and more sure Mario was just stalling, the thought that he was planning something else just wouldn't go away. In the end, he sent 20,000 of his 24,000 cavalry screaming into the pass. He was rewarded with the pikeline bulging and almost breaking when 10,000 of Mario's horseman stormed appeared, as if out of thin air, between him and his men. How Mario could possibly have done that Ceserae had no idea, but a sense of doom. Again, two thoughts began warring in his head. Strike Mario in the back or wait and see if the general had something else planned. This time caution won out.

Mario fought desperately for what seemed like an eternity. Even after the surprise attack seeming out of nowhere the Papal cavalry fought well. But eventually they just couldn't fight any more and the Papal army surrendered. Looking up on the rise Mario saw Ceserae with what was left of his army. Mario even thought he could see tears of frustration on Ceserae's face as he raised a fist in the air, closed it, and began marching his army back to Rome.


	27. Prelude to Finale

Prelude to Finale

Ezio struck down one guard and then another as they stood between him and Giovanni. Fredrico stood beside him eliminating guards as they tried to move around Ezio. Both men could tell that their father had lost a lot of blood. The two fought desperately against time and they slew guard after guard but like a hydra, for every guard that fell, two more appeared. Eventually, the two were surrounded by guards. Calling for them to throw down their swords they advanced, squeezing the circle tighter and pressing both Fredrico and Ezio back to back restricting movements. Suddenly a whistle sounded from somewhere outside the building and dozens of crossbow bolts crashed through the windows, slaying the enemy. Ezio rushed to his father, and together he, Fredrico, and Petruchio with the recruits, rushed him back to the Tiber Island Hideout.

Bartolommeo led his men from Venice onto the plains of Florence. He was meeting up with Mario as well as the armies of Caterina Sforza and Lorenzo di Medici. They were going to march on Rome to destroy the last of the Templar influence in Italy. Bartolommeo had been left out of the fighting for the most part in the last years and wanted desperately to be in the final thrust. His troops from Venice were the finest he had ever commanded and they were the core of the army Mario now led. The army consisted of 23,000 armed men from four cities. Mario was sure they would easily surround and trap the enemy in the city of Rome leaving them to starve of surrender. Bartolommeo wasn't so sure his plan would work though. Mario assumed that the army of the Borgia was broken, shattered, and demoralized. Lorenzo and Caterina had tried to convince him that there was still a lot of fight left in the Templar but he wouldn't listen. Bartolommeo was under the impression that he would lose many of his fine soldiers if Mario could not be persuaded from his current course of action.

Gonzo prepared his elite strike force. When they had come to him they had been a broken group of many different loyalties and goals. Followers of Romulus, Borgia Guards, Swiss Guardsman, French soldiers, Mercenaries, Thieves, and Beggars had all been molded into the unit he now commanded. He had taught them to fight together, to trust each other, and to bury old prejudices. They were the Immortals, named after the military force of ancient Persia who marched into battle without a sound and whose number was always kept at exactly 10,000. There were only 77 men in his unit but they fought like 10,000. Long hard months of training had prepared them for the mission they were about to start. The Raid on Tiber Island.

Antonio watched what was left of his army begin to march. After Ceserae's disastrous defeat at the hands of Mario and his subsequent death in a duel with Giovanni, Antonio had taken over command. He had always been the brain behind Ceserae's campaigns and when Ceserae made decisions himself bad things usually followed. The amount of men left after Ceserae's rash gamble was a very depressing figure. 3,600 pikemen, 2,100 light cavalry, 1,000 heavy cavalry, 1,200 archers, and 2,400 crossbowmen. In all, 10,300 men were following him to do battle with Mario, who had twice as many men, on the plains of Imola.

There are just five chapters left in Giovanni's Tale

The First Sparks Fall: 6/16/13

The Epic Conclusion Part 1: 6/18/13

The Epic Conclusion Part 2: 7/4/13

Postlude to Finale: 7/7/13

Epilogue: 7/12/13


	28. The First Sparks Fall

The First Sparks Fall

Luigi knew that the armies of Rome under Antonio were close. Mario had given him clear orders not to engage but Luigi was certain that the column of Roman light cavalry was just as surprised to see him as he was to see them. But his 2,300 men were one of the army's three swordsman companies, not equipped to fight horseman. That was the cause and the effect was 450 of his men lost with minimal casualties to the Romans.

Mario was furious with him. "Was I unclear?" he asked in a deadly, soft, voice. "Was there something about 'you are not to engage' that you didn't understand?" "No, Sir!" Luigi said as he rigidly saluted. "We were marching down the road when we saw a farmer's field full of potential provisions and we moved into to get some when the cavalry just appeared from behind a low stone wall. The riders were hiding behind the wall and we had thought the horses were the farmer's herd. Then just suddenly, like lighting, they were on us. My men panicked and we were in full, disorganized retreat in 12 seconds." "It appears, Luigi, that you have chosen our battlefield. I hope you have chosen well. Take what is left of your men and get Lorenzo's brother, because you are going to need his pikes to push the cavalry out." Mario turned to his messenger boy and continued, "Get Uberto to bring his men around and hit them from the North. There is a hedged vineyard that he will have to go through but that shouldn't present much of a problem. Once you have delivered that message, tell Antonio and the Duke of Milan to get their pikes through the woods to the South. We can try to hit them from three sides." Mario turned back to Luigi and seemed surprised. "What are you still doing here? Go; drive them out of that field."

Because of the angle of the road and the Roman position, Luigi had to line his men up for the charge in the field facing the Romans. This was costly because the Romans had reinforced their position with 500 archers. After taking heavy losses they managed to close with the Roman light cavalry, which had dismounted and were fighting to hold the low, stone wall barrier. At first, it looked like they were going to drive the Romans back, but then Luigi's men began to fall back. Luigi drew his sword and charged into the fray, bursting through his own ranks and leaping over the wall. He slew first one man, then a second. He slew two more before a sword ripped open his stomach. He fell to the ground, trying to hold his lifeblood in, as he slowly slipped into the blackness wondering if his example had rallied his men.

Uberto Alberte was leading his men into battle from the North. They were roughly 600 meters from the rear of the light cavalry when suddenly a force of crossbowman appeared from the hedges in front of him, raining death in the form of steel bolts into his men. Crossbowman couldn't stand up to swordsman, but between climbing over the hedges, and tripping over the vines, they got off three bolts before retreating. Uberto left 800 men lying in that vineyard and not a single Roman fell. They also stalled long enough that they hit the light cavalry in the flank instead of appearing in the rear to completely destroy their force.

Antonio (Mario's lieutenant, not the commander of the Roman army) was leading his pikes through the woods to the south of where he could hear the battle. When the finally emerged, they were behind a force of pikes almost as large as his and the Duke's combined. Even though pikes hadn't been designed for fighting other pikes, having 4,600 of them in the rear of the Roman army wasn't an opportunity to pass up. Antonio made his decision.

Ezio was tending to his father when the door of their headquarters was broken down, and a force of Borgia soldiers stormed in. The Assassins responded quickly but three recruits went down almost effortlessly. Niccolo was the first one into the fight who stood, but he was driven back. A grievous blow was inflicted on his leg, but Petruchio saved him. Fredrico slammed into the fight war hammer crushing limbs, ribs and skulls, and Volpe darted in with his butcher's knife. Ezio grabbed his mother, ordered her to take Giovanni down to the underwater entrance. He ordered Uggo to grab Niccolo and Rosa to get the one standing recruit he could find, before he and Claudia joined the fight. The four Auditores and Volpe fought desperately against this new foe. They fought much better than regular Borgia soldiers. They carried long-bladed knives and small axes and wore light chain armor. But most importantly they were fast. Instead of relying on weapons to parry, or armor to stop an attack, they seemed to flow out of the path of enemies weapons. Even so a pile of bodies began to build up at the Assassin's feet. However, they were driven back. They were driven away from where Ezio wanted to be. They were being pushed away from Christina and his three children.

Slowly, the Assassins were being driven onto the roof. Once there, the assailants formed a semicircle with a sheer drop of 500 feet behind them. Then a man in resplendent gold armor with a wolf fur cape and a sword with a flawless ruby in the pommel and a sapphire in the sheath appeared. He was in his middle years, but had aged extremely well. He had a bearing of authority and an air of command. This figure seemed to be an elemental force, an intimidating being that had the utmost confidence in himself. He spoke with a deep, powerful, booming voice and said "Assassins, it is time to die." "We don't fear death" Ezio retorted. "Claudia, Volpe show him."

The man couldn't know that this is the Leap of Faith location where the Assassins initiated new members. Indeed, the powerful figure who could only be the leader of these men who had attacked them did seem taken aback. He was even more surprised when the three Auditore brothers followed suit. But as he looked over the side he saw Ezio climb out of the haystack and he knew it for a trick. He also knew there was no point in pursuing. "Search the building" he commanded.

When he had returned to the main floor, his men presented him with Paola, Teodora, Christina, and Christina's three children, Manfredo, Sofia, and Giovanni. First he examined Paola, second Teodora, before stopping at Christina. "Kill the first two" he ordered. "This one could be of use to us. She is the wife of Ezio Take her to our headquarters. If she resists, or if there is any sign of Assassin interference, kill the children, starting with the youngest." "Sir," one man spoke up. "The two courtesans could be a reward for the men for a job well done." The commander looked up. "How many dead Assassins have you found?" "Three, sir" the lieutenant said wondering why he was being asked this question and what it had to do with his lust for the two courtesans. "And how many jumped off the roof?" "Four" replied the lieutenant. "How many were seen in here but are currently unaccounted for?" "At least three" replied the lieutenant, who had by now realized that the two would not be given to him. "And you call this a job well done?" asked the commander. "Umm, No, Sir!" replied the lieutenant. The commander looked at him with such disgust on his face that the lieutenant began to feel fear. It was a wise feeling, and the commander beheaded the lieutenant without batting an eye. The commander turned to the men. "We have engaged the enemy and now is not the time to tolerate fools. However, you can keep one of them. Kill the other and when every last Assassin is dead you can enjoy your reward.

This was the end of the unnamed and not particularly bright lieutenant.

And thus the First Sparks Fell


	29. The Epic Conclusion Part 1

The Epic Conclusion: Part 1

The next morning the battlefield looked much different than it had the day before. The Romans had been pushed up and away from the town, thanks to the surprise attack from Antonio and the Duke of Milan. On the down side, they now held positions on the high ground. They had encamped on a long ridge and the surrounding hills. What was left of Luigi's battalion had been folded into Uberto's after Luigi's death so Uberto had the largest battalion in the army at the moment. This was a good thing because he and the brother of Lorenzo di Medici were going to storm the right flank of the Roman army, the part they had fortified the best. The only advantage he had was that the Antonio and the Duke of Milan were going to launch another attack on the left flank of the Romans.

When the advance was sounded, they led their combined 5,000 men across the plain and up the hill. They were immediately met with arrows and crossbow-bolts. Crossbows take a long time to reload and after the first volley, there was very little resistance. However, when they were just 75 feet from the crest of the hill, a large force of archers that had been stationed on the next hill over, appeared on their flank. Now that they were being hit from both sides, the soldiers immediately began taking cover behind trees or just lying down on the forest floor. Uberto called a messenger over. "Sir," the boy yelled over the din of the battle, "What are your orders?" "Tell Mario to send all the reserves he has over the far west hill. All of the troops they had stationed over there are out of position to attack us."

As the boy turned and ran, Uberto heard a terrifying sound. The sound of 100 armored knights charging downhill at his men. "Stand up," he cried, "Form a pike-wall. Hold your ground" The other commander, Medici's brother took up the call as well. "Stand up. Form a pike-wall, hold your ground." But the arrows whistling overhead had cowed most of his men and they plowed through the pitiful pike-wall a few men had managed to make. Many of the men were trampled and countless more were cut down. But Uberto noticed something else. The arrows had stopped. They wouldn't fire into their own men.

Drawing his sword he charged up the hill yelling at the top of his lungs, "To arms, rise and fight, they won't shoot their own men." Relatively few men were behind him, but those that were took up the cry.

As if to mock him, a crossbow-bolt suddenly took the younger Medici in the leg, all but severing it at the knee. He screamed as he rolled down the hill and out of sight. Uberto however didn't allow himself to be phased. He continued the charge and as he burst into the ranks of where the cavalry actually were he began to cut down the few who pikemen had pulled out of their saddles.

The men who followed him in the charge were right with him, and they began to drive the cavalry back. The archers were still afraid to fire into the ranks of the cavalry and the archers on the flank had pulled back to where they were supposed to be. After hours of fighting Uberto was almost to the crest when a lance pierced his chest-bone. He fell against a tree, and slid down to the ground. He tried to fight off the blackness that ultimately came for him.

Antonio finally led his men forward and into the fray. He and the Duke of Milan were hours late in their attack on the left flank of the Romans. To their advantage however an overconfident Roman had led the cavalry that was supposed to be on the far right hill to the base of the hill he was going to be attacking. A hastily formed pike-wall had left more than half of that force in their death throes.

Antonio turned to yell some encouragement to his men before storming the heavily wooded hill but just then an arrow took him in the throat. He fell out of the saddle, gurgling the encouragement he had meant to give to his men.

The Duke of Milan was now in charge as he led two battalions of pike up the hill. It wasn't hard to storm because the trees made the archers extremely ineffective in breaking up his formation and the cavalry couldn't attack an already formed pike-wall. Upon reaching the crest, his men immediately began fortifying it. They also sent messenger to Mario telling him to send any infantry he still had up the hill to the right because the Duke had cut them off from the rest of the army. Roughly a few hours later, Bartolommeo's men had seized the hill, but an order came for the Duke to send a force to occupy it, so that Bartolommeo could prepare for and assault the next morning.

At sunset, a Roman counterattack finally came. The crest had been cleared of trees so his men made easy targets for the Roman archers. The Duke ordered his men to lie down, so they weren't such easy targets. Once the archers realized that they weren't doing any damage, they stopped firing.

The reprieve was slight as a large force of pikemen charged up the hill. It was pike against pike in bloody combat atop the hill. As the blood red sun sank lower and lower in the sky the pile of corpses grew larger and larger on the ground. The men of Milan were slowly driven back. The Duke was desperately trying to rally his men as the fell. They just couldn't hold against the onslaught.

They had lost the crest and were being pushed back down the hill. The enemy pike lines had stopped advancing and they were just letting the archers finish the job. The Duke men dug in for the night 70 feet below the crest with the less than half the men he had started the day with. The Duke hadn't given up hope yet. There was no sign of any attack on the hill to the right and the Duke theorized that the Romans didn't know he had troops up there.

Ezio and the rest of the Assassins met around the table of Volpe's inn in Rome, The Sleeping Fox. The mood was extremely somber. Ezio had been in a fearful rage and the others had just finished calming him. The Templar has Christina and all three of his children. Compared to that he didn't care that they also had Paola and Teodora.

"Here is what we are going to do" said Niccolo, who Mario had left in charge months ago. "Fredrico, you alone know where the Armor of Altair is. We are going to need that. Take are only standing recruit, Julius, with you. Uggo and Rosa, you must go and retrieve Leonardo da Vinci. Ceserae had put him out to pasture in a villa 22 miles from here. If you leave now you can be back tomorrow. Volpe, I am giving you the most important mission of all. The Apple of Eden is hidden in a valley 60 miles from here. You can be back in three days if you leave soon."

Just then a knock came at the door. Lucille, another recruit timidly stuck her head in the door. "Thank God, you are all right" Rosa said. The two had become close friends in the last few months. "How did you escape?" asked Ezio. "I didn't" Lucille admitted. "They found me hiding on the top floor. I was taken to their commander who gave me this message for you. 'You Assassins are going to leave the Apple of Eden in a box at foot of the bridge to the Vatican. If I don't have it, I will kill one of the prisoners in a very slow, painful, way. Every day at noon someone will die, and every time will be worse than the time before.' He also wanted to tell you, Ezio, that he will save your family for last. He said it was a tradeoff; more time, for a more excruciating price of failure.

"We have to do something" Petruchio said, slamming his fists down on the table with fire in his eyes. "What can we do?" Uggo asked. "Any rescue attempt and they will probably kill all six hostages." "Seven" Lucille inserted, "Ezio's wife, his three kids, Paola, Teodora, and our other recruit Angelica."

"For now we will do whatever we can to fight back." Niccolo said. "We have 18 hours before the first execution. Ezio, Lucille, Giovanni and Mario are hiding behind the door to the underwater entrance. Go and retrieve them. Petruchio, Claudia, we have a mission. Uggo and Rosa discovered these six scrolls while hunting down the pagan Followers of Romulus. I believe these scrolls are the keys to unlocking a suit of armor similar to the Armor of Altair. The Followers were bought and paid for by the Templar Order and it would be safe to assume the Templar know about the Armor. We must go and retrieve it before they find a way to open it."

Niccolo then turned to the entire Brotherhood that had assembled. "We have been struck a grievous blow by this new Templar foe. But he seriously underestimates us. He thinks we are beaten. But I tell you Brothers and Sisters; We Are NOT Beaten. We have been knocked down but we will rise. Remember our Creed for it gives us strength. Nothing is true. This foe believes he is unbeatable. This is not true. Everything is permitted. We will go to all lengths to stop the Templar and to get our people back. Remember, We work in the Dark to serve the Light. WE ARE ASSASSINS.

Ezio didn't get out of the speech but he saw almost every other face in the room light up, and become firm with resolve. Even Volpe, who should have been far beyond believing in such simple, shallow speeches, but as they left to go to their assigned tasks there was a renewed vigor to their step.

As Niccole and the two youngest Auditore siblings approached the armor they noticed that the locks had been damaged in an attempt to force entry. As they drew closer, the Templar Commander and 12 men appeared behind them. There was no call for surrender or the prefight banter and taunting that was so common for Templars. The three were completely divided, with each fighting four Templars.

Claudia rammed her stiletto into the first attacker's belly. She ducked under the second attacker's swing, and slit his throat. A third attacker swung his mini ax but she caught his wrist and planted her knife in his chest. But she realized in horror that it wasn't a killing blow and the man shoved his own long-bladed knife into her diaphragm.

Niccolo managed to kill the first attacker. However, the other three just toyed with him and slowly wore him down. He managed to stab a second Templar but the leg that had been critically wounded at the Tiber Island Hideout gave out. Petruchio saw him scream as one of the remaining Templars jumped on him and four times with his hand ax.

Petruchio had now slain six guards. Only two remained standing, but these two worked much better as a team than the others. Petruchio never got a chance to strike because one of the two was always attacking. The two were backing him towards the armor, but suddenly an iridescent gold glove clamped over his mouth and a long-bladed knife entered him from behind. The Commander walked around in front of Petruchio who had fallen to his knees and drew a pistol that the Borgia had been building. Petruchio yelled in defiance as the bullet pierced his skull


	30. The Epic Conclusion Pt 2

The Epic Conclusion: Part 2

Mario was desperate. Two days of fighting had failed to remove the Roman army from their position atop the hills. He desperately needed to change things and he saw one chance. He ordered the men on the big hill to the right and the men entrenched on the left to attack, while everyone left charged forward across the empty field.

Mario, Bartolommeo, and Caterina led from the front. As the cry of charge broke through the woods the army began the three-quarter-of-a-mile charge. They poured out of the woods; the tide of freedom for man. The colors waved in the wind, a banner of everything the Templar sought to destroy. The armies of an immortal idea began to advance.

The army marched the first half mile in orderly ranks. There was a wooden fence at 400 meters that was Mario's mark. From there, his army would break into a disorganized mass as every man ran as fast as they could through arrows and crossbow bolts. Mario climbing over the fence was also the signal for the two armies on the flanks could attack.

A cheer rose up in the ranks behind Mario. The men knew this was it. They knew what they fought for and why they had to succeed. For them this battle meant everything. For them, this battle meant that the tyranny of Rome and the Pope would end. It meant that their respective cities could govern their own people. These people could choose how to live their lives without Roman influence and choose how to worship their god without the Pope's influence.

The gap seemed to close quickly and in what seemed to be just a moment later Mario climbed over the fence. He raised his great broad sword in the air and then pointed at the little stone wall at the feet of the enemy army. "Through their lies the enemy" Mario yelled. "Through there lies the path to freedom for your homes. Over those stones lies freedom for your families. Across this field lies the key to everything you ever wanted for yourselves and your families. Forward men, to VICTORY!"

The men charged and the Roman position was under attack from three directions. 100 meters into the charge arrows began to fall into his men. The Romans were trying desperately to break the charge with arrows and bolts, otherwise they would have to fight on three fronts.

Mario's heart pulsed with enthusiasm. 300 meters. His blood ran hot. 250 meters. Youthful energy infused his old limbs. 200 meters. Sorrow shot threw him as Bartolommeo took and arrow to the throat. 150 meters. Crossbow bolts began to cut into his men. 100 meters. His men who were on the right flank crashed into flank of the Romans. 50 meters. Mario jumped over the low stone wall and crashed into the ranks of pike. He worked his great sword in the press. In the crowded battlefield swordsman had an advantage over pike because they needed much less room to work their weapons. Many people accredited the accolade of best swordsman to Giovanni, but the only person who had seen Mario best Giovanni was Giovanni. His men quickly formed a wedge with Mario at its point. The enemy came at them but they inevitably fell. Men in the wedge fell but they were replaced by the ranks behind them.

The wedge slowly pushed the enemy back. The Romans were being pressed together on three sides by the forces led by Mario. The men were exhausted by the press and eventually all their momentum burned out. They wedge was slowly driven back. The back of the wedge met the small stone wall and was pressed even harder.

Mario refused to retreat. Even as the wedge slowly climbed over the low stone wall, he held. The hope was that the men would see that their commander stood tall, even against overwhelming odds. Slowly, the Romans began to surround Mario. They began to attack, but Mario danced. That was the only word to describe it. It was not the brutal hacking or slashing within the loud clamor of battle. This was elegant. He flowed smoothly from one sword form to another. No enemy sword came close to him as he danced. But the enemy began to fall.

The Romans wouldn't retreat though. They knew who it was in this little circle and they knew the loss the other sided would take if the slew Mario. But Mario danced the dance of death. Men died around him, slain by his sword, but for everyman slain, another took his place. Slowly, they wore down Mario. He began to suffer wounds, minor cuts at first, but followed by more and more serious wounds until he was just a bloody mess. But he still didn't go down.

Suddenly the entire circle around him lurched, and he realized that his men had come back for him. The Romans had become entirely to focused on him and now his army was pushing back the circle that had formed around him. He still had to fight off a few opponents but the worst of it was over. One of his men reached him and then picked him up and carried him to the back of the formation. "You can't fight anymore, sir" the young man said. "You are badly wounded, and if you die or get captured, it would demoralize the entire army. You need to stay here." He gestured behind him to five or six men who were following him. "These men are your honor guard, sir. They will buy you time to escape, should we be overrun. I will have your messengers report here and so you can give any orders you see fit. Sir, I think we are going to whip them."

The day dragged on and the battle failed to diminish. Mario had left an escape route open for the Romans so that they wouldn't feel cornered. A man never fought his hardest until he was trapped in a corner. But still the Romans refused to admit defeat. They fought on and on until Mario was sure even his men would have given up by now. Then Mario's left flank broke.

The Romans let Mario's disorganized force as they ran away and then they spun around struck Mario's men in the side. Mario watched in horror as the entire battle rotated 90 degrees to the right. He grabbed one of his messengers and yelled at him, "We have one shot at winning this battle. You have to find whoever is in command of the disorganized troops on the left. If they reform and attack they will hit the Romans in the rear." "Yes, sir" the boy yelled before galloping off. Mario stood up and grabbed his sword, and went to lead his army from the front once again.

Mario charged into the front ranks. Men shied away from his great sword as they had learned to do when they attempted to surround him. They weren't fast enough though. Men fell and died by his hand and his army rallied around him. The two sides clashed into each other with renewed vigor.

Mario was tired, hungry, and not as youthful as he once was. He moved to slowly to stop the pike from piercing his body. Mario fell to his knees as his army overran and slew the man who stabbed him. He hoped that his men would still find victory.

The Assassins gathered around Giovanni. It was roughly 10 in the morning on the third day. Volpe walked in with the Apple. "Which two?" Volpe asked. Giovanni knew exactly what he meant. "Our recruit and Paola." "How" Volpe asked. "The hanged the recruit. Paola is still alive but yesterday they took her to the roof of our hideout and nailed her to the door. In two hours they will burn Teodora at the stake if we don't do something." "We can't just give him the Apple" Ezio said. "No, we are going to use the Apple" Giovanni said. "It can be used to make the Swiss Guard fight for us. We will attack them and they will be destroyed." "What will keep them from just killing the hostages when they see us coming with an army?" Ezio asked. "They won't see us coming" Giovanni answered. "We will not be leading from the front but staying in the middle until the battle is actually engaged. Once we have engaged we will find and kill their commander. If this attack fails, all is lost." "Then let's hope it doesn't fail" Ezio added grimly.

The bridge was silent as the 111 man army that the Commander had assembled to hunt Assassins stood for review. They were a varied bunch, with a wide range of heights, weights, skin colors, hair colors, and eye colors. But they fought as one unit. They fought together like no unit before ever had. No commander before had ever combined as many varied races and religions into one unit before, nor had such a varied unit ever fought so successfully. But the war was not yet won. The Assassins still lived. They still fought and they still were a threat. But not for much longer. He was going to destroy every last one of them.

Giovanni was girding on his armor as Ezio walked into the room. "Are you sure you are up for this, Father? You almost died just five days ago. We can handle this. Fredrico, Uggo, Rosa, Volpe, and I. You don't need to come." "Ezio, this will be my last battle. If I die, I die still fighting for everything I believe in. I die fighting for my family, for my beliefs, and for the values I was raised with. I don't expect you to understand that. But if I live, I can pass on the torch. I can let you and Fredrico, Uggo and Rosa, Volpe, and any other recruits I you can find carry on my fight. I can retire with Maria, to Maysaf, where I have always wanted to spend my final days and see where it all started; to be able to see the library of Altair. But the torch is still my burden to bear. This fight, my fight is not yet won. When I was young I wanted to save the world. When I got older I realized that one man can't change the world. But it is only now, in my final years, that I have realized that although I can't change the whole world, I can change one person's whole world. I can change the way the people of Rome see and interact with the world. I can change their world. This is my goal. You cannot stop me." "I just want you to know, Father, I do understand. But you must understand this. All your talk of changing the world is well and good, but you are not as young and strong as you once were. If you fall today, the entire world will be changed for Mother, as well as for Fredrico and I. Three children will grow up without having a grandfather to spoil them. I don't want that to happen." The two men looked at each other, father and son, and the embraced. "Ezio, I am so proud of you. You have exceeded every expectation I ever had for you. You have done well for yourself, and for your family. You are everything I ever wanted in a son." Giovanni stood back and looked at Ezio. "But now is not the time to be sentimental. Now is a time for action and now is the time to rid Italy of the Templar."

The Commander was stunned as a battalion of the Swiss Guard suddenly attacked his men. But he quickly figured out that the Assassins were controlling them via the Apple of Eden. He plunged himself into the battle knowing that if he acquired the Apple that the Assassins would be trapped between two armies.

Volpe charged into the fray, working his butcher's knife quickly, devastating several enemies before they could even react. He was trying to get to the Commander. Every Assassin in the battle was trying to reach the Commander. But Volpe got their first. The Fox slammed into the Commander, trying stay in close, where the Commander's sword would be of little use. The Commander managed to punch Volpe, staggering him, and then inflicted a deep wound on Volpe's thigh. Volpe fell and to his horror, couldn't rise. The Commander raised his sword to behead Volpe, but suddenly, Ezio was there to parry the blow. The two fought, back and forth, exchanging several lightning-fast blows. Ezio was faster by just a fraction of a second, but the Commander was powerful, every blow staggered Ezio. But in a sudden burst of speed the Commander landed a grievous blow along Ezio's lower ribs. But suddenly Fredrico was there, blade whirling in a fury around the Commander. Fredrico was definitely the better of the two duelists and he forced the Commander to stay on the defensive. There was no defense against his blade. Eventually he landed what should have been a killing blow. Instead, his sword just bounced off the Armor of Romulus. The two began the duel anew, this time the Commander forced Fredrico onto the defensive. Fredrico couldn't find a weak spot in the armor. The only vulnerability was the lack of a helmet. Fredrico attempted a beheading strike, but it was parried and he received a deep cut on his forearm. Desperate, Fredrico tried the only thing he could think of. He jumped the Commander, clamping his hand over the Commander's mouth and nose, attempting to suffocate him. At first he was successful but then he heard a terrible sound. The muscles in his forearm snapped. The Commander shoved him off and punched him, before removing the arm at the elbow with one blow of his sword. He was about to kill Fredrico when Giovanni appeared.

The two dueled. Giovanni pushed the Commander back and kept him on the defensive. But then he stumbled. The Commander took advantage of the weakness and brought his great sword down on Giovanni's back. The blade bounced off the Armor of Altair. The two men circled each other, both with nearly impenetrable armor, and both filled with hatred for the opponent. "It's finished" the Commander taunted. "You Assassins have lost. There is nothing left for you. I killed all four of your children. Now I am going to kill you old man." The Commander moved to draw his pistol but Giovanni threw his sword at him. The Commander dodged the throw but Giovanni had rushed him and then Giovanni shoved his hidden blade into the face of the Commander. "Ezio and Fredrico are not dead. Claudia and Petruchio have been avenged. I would wish that you rest in peace, but I don't feel that you even deserve the traditional blessing. I just hope your still alive to hear me when I say Victory to the Assassins.

Victory to the Assassins!


	31. Postlude to Finale

Postlude to Finale

The army that the Assassins had rallied limped away. After their commander had fallen, the army had disintegrated. But they had inflicted an enormous amount of casualties on the Roman army. They were worn out and beaten down to the point that it would be many years before Rome ever attempted to dominate Italy again. The army turned around. One of the bloodiest battles ever fought on Italian soil had ended in a draw.

Ezio raced to the fortress of the defeated commander. His family was still hostage inside the building. He shoved hidden blades into both of the door guards and darted inside. He spun under the attack of a guard inside the building and stabbed him in the back. A throwing knife took care of the second guard in the room.

Ezio started up the stairway, but found himself being blocked by several guards. With a war cry, Ezio threw himself into them. None lasted more than two blows in the ensuing duel. Reaching the top floor, Ezio stopped as he stood face-to-face with a guard holding Christina at gunpoint. "Don't move" he yelled. "I will kill her if you take one step closer." "You won't kill her" Ezio replied. "You need her to get out of here. You know that if anything happens to her you will be dead before you can count to three." In response the guard pulled the hammer down on the pistol. "I want you to back out of the doorway and to close the door" the guard said.

Suddenly the guard screamed and fell to the ground with a knife in his back. Ezio's son Manfredo stood behind him. Ezio ran across the room and embraced both wife and child in one giant hug. He was finally reunited with his family.


	32. Epilogue

Epilogue

Lorenzo di Medici: Lorenzo became the head of a collective security agreement in 1500 and ruled Florence justly until his death in 1511 at the age of 63.

Uberto: Uberto lost his leg in the war with Rome and became the ruler of Monteriggoni after Mario's death. He ruled until he died in 1504 at the age of 69.

Caterina: Caterina was captured in 1496 by the Pope. She was tortured and raped. She was rescued in 1498 by Fredrico Auditore. They married in 1499, but due to her traumatic experiences they didn't consummate their marriage until 1505. Their only child was born in 1506 and she died in 1514 at the age of 51.

The Duke of Milan was killed by his own men by mistake while on a campaign.

Fredrico: Fredrico lost his arm in the battle with the Commander. He was placed in charge of Assassins in Italy following the battle. He rescued Caterina, literally single-handedly, in 1498. They married in 1499 and had a child in 1506. Fredrico died in 1530 at the age of 75.

Ezio: Ezio fathered three children with Christina Vespucci. He left with his father for Maysaf in 1497. From there Ezio started a Brotherhood in Istanbul. Christina died in 1500 and Ezio married Sofia Sartor in 1506. They had two children from which Desmond is descended. Ezio died in 1570 at the age of 111.

La Volpe: Volpe died in 1494 from complications of wounds received in the battle with the Commander. He was 68 years old.

Uggo: After Rosa spurned his advances in 1492, he departed to form a brotherhood in London, England. He died in 1501 at the age of 36.

Rosa: Rosa departed for the New World in 1498. She died in 1514 at the age of 48.

Manfredo: Manfredo was Ezio's oldest child born in 1480. He never became an Assassin, but continually supported them with money, information, and places to hide when their cover was blown. He devoted his life to the study of First Civilization artifacts. He found an Apple of Eden in Maysaf, and spent most of his life wrapped up in the study of the Apple. Subject 16 is descended from Manfredo. Manfredo had just one child, who was born in 1513. He died in 1577 at the age of 97.

Giovanni: Giovanni spent the six years immediately following the battle helping Fredrico reorganize the Brotherhood. In 1498 Giovanni retired to Maysaf where he spent the remainder of his days in Maysaf's library. He died in 1531 at the age of 96.


End file.
